The League of Extraordinary Video Game Characters
by The Iron Chef
Summary: MegaMan, Samus Aran, Sonic the Hedgehog, Solid Snake, Link, and Cloud Strife all join forces to defeat the most vile villains in history. I've put up the chapters of the scrapped Part III, "The Lost Levels". Was going to when the story was done. Whoops.
1. Chapter 1

1Chapter one: Many meetings

20XX

The evil Dr. Wily has been defeated. After so many years of defeat at the hand of Megaman, Wily gave up and stopped his creation of Robot Masters. And with that, Megaman was needless. There was still work to be done in the reconstruction of all the damage that Wily had done over the years, but then still, it was never the same for Megaman since Wily's final defeat.

Then one day,

"Hmm? There's another alarm?" Dr. Light moved over the computer console. "What's this, this alarm is from Dr. Wily's lab. Roll, get Megaman in here right away!"

"What is it Dr. Light?" Megaman asked coming into the room.

"This alarm is coming from Dr. Wily's lab. This of course is strange because that lab has been abandoned for years."

"You're right Dr. Light. I'll check it out."

"Be careful Megaman!

Megaman said he would be careful and rushed into the teleport.

Megaman stepped into the teleporter and zipped off. When he arrived at Wily's old lab, he found it empty and quiet.

"Wait, there's no distress here. Who fired the alarm?" Megaman continued to walk further into Wily's lab when a light flashed on.

"I'm glad you could make it Megaman!" Shouted Dr. Wily from behind a control station high in the room.

"Wily, I thought you were finished!" Megaman shouted.

"Oh, far from it. Instead of leading you through a maze of traps and robots to fight a harder robot at the end of the maze so that you may steal his special ability and use that special ability to defeat my other robot masters and eventually use all of the ability's to gain access into my lair and then defeat my greatest creation using those same abilities, I decided to get you here right from the get go."

This confused Megaman, he had been used to the same routine for 15 or so years he found himself helpless. Wily then flipped a switch that opened a hatch on the ceiling of the room that released a large yellow mass of goop. Megaman knew what was coming. The goop began to bubble, it slowly began to rise and took the form of a large sphere with legs and arms. It was a behemoth in size, it flexed its large yellow arms, and a single red eye opened in the middle of its body. Megaman of course was at a loss. He had always used an electric attack for this monster. The yellow devil began to separate itself and fly across the room. Megaman dodged the yellow devil as best he could but he found himself being pelted by the large yellow blobs.

It was then when there was a bright green flash. A purple blur flew across the room and destroyed the devil. A purple dragon floated in the air, fire escaping the corners of it's mouth, and bright yellow eyes scanning the room. Megaman looked up at it in fear, the only dragon he had ever faced was a big robotic one, and he was pretty sure this one wasn't a robot.

The dragon made a loud screeching sound.

"I'm sorry Ridley, I came up with this great plan to destroy Megaman once and for all. I knew that this one would work!"

The dragon screeched.

It was then when out of the green ball of which Ridley had come from a missile came launching out. The missile struck Ridley and he fell to the ground. Then out of the ball came a spinning object, which looked human but was curled up. The object unfolded, landed on its two feet and pointed its gunarm at the dragon. It's orange armor shone.

The dragon screeched.

Wily pushed a button and a green flash surrounded him. He was then gone. When Megaman looked back down he saw that the monster and the mystery person had engaged in combat. Megaman was blown away by what the mystery person was able to do. The person was able to leap far into the air spin, stay in the air, shoot missiles, a variety of different beam weapons, and aim the direction of his arm. He was fast, agile, and powerful. Megaman was most impressed by his skill.

The mystery person shifted the form of his arm and began firing blast that seemed like ice. It was then when the dragon hit the person's arm and sent him flying. The mysterious person fell on the ground and lay almost motionless. The dragon hovered high above him charging some sort of blast from its mouth.

"What are you waiting for? Blast him!" The mystery person shouted at Megaman.

Megaman lifted his hand into the air pointed at the dragon, shifted to the Mega Buster, but his arm then fell down to a horizontal point.

"What are you doing?" The person shouted from the pile of rubble. He had gained some movement.

"I'm sorry! My buster can only shoot horizontally" Megaman then tried to jump up and hit the dragon, but it was too high. Megaman then started up on some platforms and other piles of debris to get to a higher point. All the while the person slowly got back up and the dragon used the ample time to charge its blast to a very powerful point.

Megaman got the height he needed. He turned over to his Mega Buster and shot a small yellow pellet. The tiny energy pellet sped over to the dragon and hit him. It knocked him back a little way but didn't do enough to stop him.

The mystery person sighed and slowly made his way back up. He then pointed his gun arm up, charged, and fired one of those missiles again. Although this time it seemed more powerful then before. The missile hit the dragon dead on, the dragon fell to the ground and retreated into a green ball that formed behind him. The mystery person then ran after the dragon.

"Hey wait, that dragon knows where Wily went!" Megaman jumped down from his platform and ran into the portal.

There was then a green flash, and Megaman found himself with the mysterious person on a strange purple and blue-skied planet. He and the other man stood on a purple floating platform surrounded by more floating platforms. There was also the green ball that Megaman and the mystery person had come through, and another green ball that Megaman didn't know where it came from.

"Why are you here?" The person asked Megaman.

"That dragon thing knows where Wily went to."

The person looked at Megaman, "Idiot."

"Hey I," Megaman was interrupted by what sounded like a high-pitched squeal.

"Metroids, figures they'd find they're way into that thing."

Out of the second green ball came several large flying green jellyfish like creatures. One of them made a rush for Megaman; Megaman was startled and didn't make a move. When the creature was straight in from of Megaman, the person shoved Megaman out of the way and pointed its gun arm at the jellyfish. The person shifted its shape into the ice shooter again, but the gun wouldn't fire.

"Curse it Ridley, he damaged the Ice Beam." The person then shifted his gun arm into a different state and fired red beams at the jellyfish. "Surly, these aren't to high for you?" The person shouted at Megaman.

Megaman switched his arm to Mega Buster and began to fire energy pellets at one. Megaman knew that it wasn't working as the Metroid kept coming toward him. The Metroid dashed for his head, as an orange ball sped across his face, dropped something blue, and went out of sight, the blue ball was taken in by the Metroid which then exploded in bright flash.

"You really are worthless aren't you?" The person said walking over to Megaman.

"I could do more if Wily had built robot masters!"

The person looked at him, Megaman couldn't tell what expression the guy wore, as he was wearing a helmet that covered his entire head.

Just then, there was another squeal. More Metroids came out of the open portal, and sped around the platform.

"Try to make yourself a little useful." The man shot more red beams at the Metroids chasing them around the area. One spotted Megaman and made it's way over. Megaman shot, shot, shot, but didn't do much. The Metroid opened its "mouth" and charged at Megaman. Megaman was startled, but then got an idea. The mystery man saw the Metroid charge, and attempt to grasp Megamans head. Megaman began to glow as the Metroid charged, when the Metroid lunged its mouth at Megaman he fired a large charged shot. The Metroid enveloped the blast and blew up. This surprised the mystery man, the charged shot that Megaman had fired was larger and seemed more powerful than his own.

"Useful enough?" Megaman asked. More Metroids came and they continued to battle, the mystery man using his red beams, and Megaman using his charge shot. The fight was hopeless, far too many Metroids were coming in through the portal, and the two fighters were worn out.

"It seems we have a little time before the next wave. What's your name?" The mystery man asked.

"Megaman, yourself?"

"Samus, Samus Aran. Sure it shouldn't be Megaboy?"

"What does that mean?"

Before the conversation could go on the next wave came. Megaman and Samus stood ready, when the horde of Metroids were right at them a green flash went off, and a blue blur went by and picked up Megaman and Samus, then ran back into the green ball from whence it came.

Megaman and Samus found themselves in a large "lab" area. Surrounded by scientists that all looked strangely similar. Although one person in the room didn't look the same, he was short, blue, wearing red sneakers, but most importantly he was a hedgehog.

"You guys alright?" the hedgehog asked.

"I believe so." Megaman said in wonder of the talking hedgehog.

"Sonic! Good to see that you're back." A man said walking in through the door to the lab. He was tall, skinny, wearing casual clothes, and a white jacket, he had somewhat long dark hair, and a pair of glasses.

"Yeah, but no sign of him. Just these two." Sonic said pointing at Megaman and Samus.

The man walked over to Megaman and Samus and held out his hand. "Hello, my name is Hal Emmerich, but feel free to call me Otacon." Megaman shook Otacon's hand but Samus was more reluctant.

"They were being attacked by those jellyfish things. It's only by luck that I saved them." Sonic said standing with his hands folded behind his head.

Samus reached down and grabbed Sonic by the throat, and held him up in the air.

"You don't know a thing about the Metroids." Samus then threw Sonic to the ground and walked off.

"What's his problem?" Sonic asked rubbing his throat.

Samus walked through the building being startled by how all of the scientists and security guards that roamed the area looked so alike.

"So what's going on here?" Megaman asked Otacon.

"Let's get the guy in the armor and I'll tell all of you."


	2. Chapter 2

1Chapter two: The League is Set

They rounded up Samus and all gathered in a waiting room area.

"Ok, here are the basics of what's going on." Otacon started. "It would seem that someone has been using the power of teleportation to hop worlds and build a team of incredible destructive power. We sent a man out to look into a supposed base of theirs and he disappeared."

"So, why are you telling us this?" Samus asked.

"Well, Sonic can't go in himself so we want you to help him find…"

"Will we find Wily?" Megaman stood up with a concerned look.

"Why can't Sonic just find your teammate?" Samus asked. Neither Samus nor Otacon heard Megaman.

Megaman tried to grab their attention again. "Will we find, hey, can uh… hey!" Samus and Otacon both stopped and looked at Megaman. "How do we get there?"

Otacon led Megaman, Samus, and Sonic to the same large lab where they came from. In the center was a large round platform where Otacon told them to stand.

"This whole thing is your teleporter? Dr. Light made one that's at least 1/8 this size." Megaman said looking around the room.

Otacon pushed some buttons and the room darkened. "I hope your soon return."

Green light engulfed the threesome and then a loud crackling sound. The next moment the team found themselves in a desert.

They set out walking, unsure of the right direction to go but they walked anyway.

"So, are we there yet?" Megaman sputtered out from behind Samus.

"What are you complaining about?" Samus asked looking down at his teammates. "It's just now coming up."

Sonic slowly staggered in the heat. "How do you know?"

"This helmet does more than cover my head." And with that, they went on walking again.

As they approached a large dune that Samus swore the base was right over, a large spear came crashing down in front of them. A couple of horse riders came up over the dune. They were female, had long red hair, and purple desert nomadic clothing.

"Stop right there, you are trespassing." One of the guards said.

"We can take um' right Samus?" Sonic whispered.

"Yes." Samus assured.

"Alright, if we're gonna do it let's do it." Sonic and Samus prepared to make a move when another rider appeared. This one was male, riding a horse as dark as he was. He must have been someone of importance as apparent by his heavy black armor and big red cape.

Samus looked up at him startled.

"Ah," The dark man said slowly. "The Bounty Hunter. Have you come for my head? Or is there another tournament?" He laughed.

Samus pointed his gun at him. "What are you doing here?"

"I'd really love to explain but I don't have the time." The dark man lifted his hand and purple energy swarmed around it. "We've already had our share of intruders."

Just then an arrow fell from the sky startling his horse and almost knocking him off of it. The dark man gathered his balance, sneered into the distance and at Samus and rode off, his two guards followed.

Samus, Megaman, and Sonic all looked back to see another rider coming. The horse was much more pleasant looking, the rider wasn't black but green, and carried a bow in his right hand. The horse stopped in front of them, he got off, and the horse ran away.

"Uh, hello." Sonic said nervously.

"Can you talk?" Megaman asked.

"Yes." Said the rider.

"Hello Link." Samus said. The rider looked at Samus and smiled. He then shook hands with Samus.

"Link, that name sounds familiar." Megaman stood puzzled.

Samus went on to explain the situation to Link. "So that's it, would you like to hear it again?"

"No." Said Link.

"I'm lost." Sonic said to Megaman. "Do you know who this guy is?"

"I know I've heard the name before, and seen a guy wearing a green tunic but where?" Megaman sat down in puzzlement.

"Anyway, enough with the pleasantries shall we be off?" Samus said.

"Yes." Said Link.

So the foursome set off over the dune, and headed off to the fortress that lay behind the dune just as Samus said it would be. They all walked slowly up, and then began running. When they arrived at the base Link unsheathed his sword, Megaman switched his arm to buster mode, Samus began taking aim, and Sonic just kept on running. Samus shot guards with a small blast since they were only human, and Megaman did the same thing. Sonic quickly ran through many guards beating them up, and Link shot a few of the nomad women with arrows knocking them out cold. There weren't many guards so the fight went quick.

Samus walked towards the entrance. "Well here's the door, let's go."

So they walked into the base only to realize how much it differed on the inside than the out. Outside it looked like your everyday desert fortress when inside it was a modern steel military base. In which lots of guards, who were dressed in black sneaking outfits instead of purple, just so happened to be. So on came the mass run, jump, attack. Link really didn't take to much part in the fight as he was just amazed at the structure this being his first time in a futuristic high-tech base.

Sonic punched the last guard in the mouth and patted his hands. Samus held a guard up to a wall. "Where's the prisoner level?"

"It's on the second basement floor. You need this key to gain access to it." The guard handed Samus the key and he threw the guard to the floor. The team walked into the elevator, inserted the key and went down.

"What's going on, respond!" A radio shouted.

The guard Samus spared grabbed his radio. "We've got intruders." He then passed out.

The doors of the elevator opened and the team found themselves in front of several dozens of guards. So Megaman and Samus shot their way through, Sonic ran around beating people up and every now and again Link would shoot some with arrows without heads so they wouldn't die. So they ran through the basement level fighting guards along the way.

"Wait, this isn't working." Sonic pointed out. "I say we split up and try to find this guy ourselves." The team thought about this for a second.

"I guess that sounds alright, what do you think Link? Should we split up?" Megaman asked.

"Yes." Said Link.

So the team found a good multi-path hallway and all took a route.

Megaman ran down his hall knocking out a few guards on the way, he found himself in a large open cylindrical room in which the large shutter door closed behind him. He knew this game. Megaman stood with his buster aimed at whatever might come his way. Out from the door walked a tall robot with green chest, leg, arm, and head armor with a black visor that showed it's one red eye. He carried a large shield and had a gun arm like Megaman's.

"A Sniper Joe?" Megaman asked as the robot walked into the room.

The green robot aimed its gun at Megaman, it began to collect energy and fired a large shot at him. Megaman managed to jump over the shot.

"Ah, a new version." Megaman said with a smile as he began to charge his own gun. Megaman ran around the room in a circular pattern with his gun aimed at the Sniper Joe. The robot pivoted in its one position with its shield up as to prevent Megaman from damaging it. The Sniper Joe's eye flashed once and he lowered down his shield to fire. Megaman took the opportunity to fire his charged shot that connected with the robot destroying it instantly.

"Wily must really think low of me if he thinks this is a challenge anymore." Megaman then proceeded through the shutter on the other end of the room.

Sonic walked into a large control like room and walked around trying to find a security camera terminal of some sort. When he found the terminal he found the TV witch showed the prisoner cells. He then noticed all the cells were empty.

Samus ran through the base as well taking out a few guards along the way when he came to an open door leading into a room in which several guards sat reading some "books".

Samus stood up against the wall near the door as the guards spoke about things that Samus couldn't understand fully. Then Samus heard a loud crash, the guards grunting, and falling to the ground. Samus slowly looked into the room and saw the guards lying face on the ground. He slowly began to enter when a gun was pointed at his head.

"Stop right there." The man holding the gun said. The man wore a gray jump suit with clips of ammo hooked onto straps around his shoulders, he had a black bandanna and a mullet.

"You take me for a rookie." Samus said maybe with a smile but we can't tell what with the helmet and all.

Samus ducked down, and did a cartwheel kick spinning the man into the air. The man did a spin in the air, landed on his feet and kicked Samus in the chest. Samus was knocked back a few steps, and ran towards the man as they began hand-to-hand combat. Samus pulled his gun arm back and struck the man in the gut. He took a few steps back and pulled out a gun, he pointed it at Samus's head and Samus pointed his gun arm at the mans head. They both took a step forward and both of their guns were at each other's foreheads.

They stayed for a second when suddenly Sonic zipped into the doorway.

"Snake!" He shouted. The man looked over at Sonic and smiled. Samus looked at Snake, took a step back, and lowered his gun.

"It's good to see you Sonic." He then looked over at Samus. "The name's Solid Snake." Snake held his hand out to Samus and Samus shook it.

"How did you find us Sonic?" Samus asked.

"I found the control room with the security cameras. Now, stay here and I'll find Link and Megaman." Sonic dashed out of the room.

Link slowly walked through his hall amazed by the high tech fortress. He had never seen a structure like it before. He was unaware that he was walking into a dark room full of guards.

When Link entered the room the guards all shone their lights on him.

"You! Stop right there!" One of the guards shouted.

The light, not ever having seen flashlights before, startled Link. The guards started to walk slowly up to Link when a figure fell from the ceiling, taking out the guards several at a time. Link couldn't tell what the figure was but he could see it wielded a sword bigger than Link had seen. When all the guards were down the figure looked at Link. All Link could see was its light green eyes, eyes so bright they seemed to glow.

The man spun his big sword in the air a couple times and then put it behind his back. He walked over to Link and came more into the light. The man had blonde hair that stuck up into the air; he wore a purple sleeveless sweater with a metal plate on his left shoulder, large black gloves, black baggy pants, and brown boots. Link wondered how the sword stayed on his back, as he didn't have a sheath for it or anything.

Link and the man with the bright eyes, stared at each other for several moments and each took a step back. Link reached back and grabbed the hilt of his sword, and the other man put a hand around the hilt of his big sword. They stood there for a moment or two, Link began to pull his sword out of the sheath and the man placed a second hand on his sword.

Just then Sonic came rushing into the room between them.

"Link, what's been happening? We got who we came for now let's get outta here!" Sonic looked across the room and saw the other man in the room. His eyes widened and he smiled. "Hey, who are you?" Sonic ran around new guy giving him the "one-over". Link put his sword back in its sheath and the other man lowered his hands and looked down at Sonic who was zipping around.

"Please stop it." The man said. Sonic stopped dead in his tracks and crossed his arms.

"Well excuse me Mr. Bright eyes."

He walked out of the room.

Sonic then led Link back to the rest of the team members back together.

"Well this is a strange bunch." Snake said when the team was back together.

"Well, what's the way out?" Megaman asked.

The team then all looked at Sonic.

Sonic looked around at them. "What? How should I know?"

"You were the one in the control room, didn't you find out?" Samus said looking down at Sonic.

"Why don't you just follow your steps to find the exit?" Snake suggested.

So the team followed their steps. And then they got lost as they all had to split up. Then they gave up that idea and just meandered around until they found themselves lost, and in a big completely dark room.

Samus looked through the darkness. "Well this is great."

"How did we even get here?" Megaman asked probing his hands out.

Snake squinted his eyes. "Can you see anything?"

"No." Link said looking around.

"Is it just me, or is it really hot in here?" Megaman asked.

"Well let's find a way to light this dump up." Sonic was about to dash forward when a bright spotlight flashed on startling Link.

"Will this do?" A voice behind the light asked.

"I know that voice…Wily!" Megaman shouted.

All the lights came on and revealed an old scientist wearing a white lab coat, a purple tie, a mustache and chrome dome with hair sticking out like a wreath all around it standing behind the spot light.

"Eggman!" Sonic shouted.

A not so old scientist wearing a red jacket, black pants, sunglasses, he had a large nose and an even bigger mustache underneath it stood by Wily at the spotlight.

"Ocelot!" Snake shouted.

Underneath the platform that the spotlight was on stood an old Russian man with long white hair about shoulder length and a white mustache, he wore a trench coat, a vest, pants, boots with spurs, wearing gloves all of which were brown, and he was spinning a revolver in his right hand.

"Ridley!" Samus shouted.

The purple dragon flew down and perched on the railing of the platform with the spotlight.

Link and Samus looked over to the other side of Ocelot to see the man from the desert.

"Ganondorf!" Samus shouted while Link gasped in surprise.

Then another person came out, the team fell silent, as none of them knew who she was.

She had long red arms, a red dress, a strange blue spike like object sprouting from under her, and her hair was up in four spikes.

"Hey, I know you." Snake said. "You're that singer Melissa Pearce. What are you doing here?"

The woman laughed. "I am Eve."

"Eve!" The team shouted along with a startled sound from Link.

The team slowly began to notice the increasing heat.

"I am amazed that all of our enemies showed up." Eggman said scratching his chin.

Ocelot span his revolver around. "Well, except for Eve's of course. And her right hand's."

"Right hand?" Samus asked. But before another thing could be done Wily aimed a large green gun at the team. The gun's barrel opened slightly and began to generate green electricity. While looking up at that Sonic looked at Eve and saw another figure in the shadows. All Sonic could make out was a devilish smile and long white hair.

Just then a figure came down from the ceiling Link remembered it from before. It came down shouting holding its big sword behind it's back ready to strike. Wily then fired his gun and a green ball of light that engulfed the team including the bright-eyed man.

"No!" The bright-eyed man shouted. Sonic noticed the white haired man's smile grow bigger. "Sephiroth!" He shouted. A green flash and the team were gone.

The orb vanished and Wily placed the gun back down.

"Sephiroth." Said Eve silently. "Come to me."

The white haired man came from the shadows. Not only did he have white hair, he had a lot of it. His hair easily went down past his waist, and hair on the top of his head that jutted out like branches and then spiked down. He wore a black leather long coat that had white shoulder armor, black pants, and black gloves. He too had green eyes that seemed to glow. "Yes?" He said very softly.

"Did you know that man with the big sword?"

"Do not worry about him, he is not important. Your plans will go perfectly." Sephiroth then knelt down on one knee and bowed his head. "Master."


	3. Chapter 3

1Chapter three: And the game is on

The team appeared in a large green field, and the bright-eyed man landed and smashed his big sword into the ground causing large chunks of land to fly up into the air.

"Damn it!" The bright-eyed man shouted.

"Hey calm down." Sonic said waking up to him.

The man spun around and punched Sonic sending him flying back. He then turned around to find Sonic in front of him. The man looked back behind and then at Sonic startled.

"Ok, let's talk about this. Why don't we first of all get back to Black Mesa?" Sonic suggested. So the team gathered in a bunch and Samus used a new type of beam given to him by a team of scientists at their base, he aimed, and fired a green ball much like what they have been using all this time. They all got into the ball and flashed away, as did the bright-eyed man who was reluctant to follow.

The team appeared in the purple and blue-skied world for a brief moment and then appeared in Black Mesa.

"Good, you're back!" Otacon said with glee as the team returned. "Snake, good to see you."

"Yeah, thanks for sending these guys after me Otacon." Snake shook Otacon's hand and walked out of the room.

"I don't think I've meet you," Otacon said looking at Link and the man with the big sword. "What are your names?" The man walked right past Otacon and left the room. Link stopped and shook Otacon's hand. "Hey, I think I've heard of you. You're that Link aren't you?"

"Yes."

"Seems our numbers have increased. Hey someone go get that other spiky haired guy."

Sonic ran out and met up with him. "Hey how's it going?" He asked friendly. The man looked down at Sonic who was smiling wide.

"Leave me alone." He gave Sonic a look of disdain.

"Hey, I can understand. You went after your villain, he got away, and now you're angry."

They spiky haired man stopped. "You don't understand at all." He continued walking. Samus appeared in front of him.

"I know how you feel, you're villain is so much more dangerous and evil than ours. And he probably did something really bad that you want to get back at him for…"

The man's eye twitched and he put his hand up to Samus's chest. Samus looked down at it curiously. The man shone a green light and with a magic force sent Samus flying.

"Get out of my way."

"He's not your villain anymore." Megaman said helping Samus up. "Now that he's joined with all of ours he's our problem as well. Just as Wily is your villain now and so on."

Snake put his hand on the bright-eyed man's shoulder. "Let's just talk about this and then you can do what you want."

He looked at all of the team, sighed, and agreed.

They led him to the waiting room area where Otacon was sitting waiting for them.

"Ok, why don't we go around and introduce ourselves to each other?" Otacon suggested. The team looked around at each other nervously, it took Sonic to break the ice first.

"My name is Sonic the Hedgehog. For several years now I've been fighting the evil Dr. Eggman. He makes robot creations and torments my planet of Mobius. While fighting him one day he went into one of those portals and disappeared I followed him and ended up here where I met Snake and Otacon."

"Uh…I'm Megaman, I was created by Dr. Thomas Light to fight Dr. Wily and his hoards of Robot Masters. I came after that purple dragon thing attacked while I was fighting Wily."

"………I'm Samus Aran. I'm a bounty hunter and I was chasing after the creature Ridley who had captured the last of the Metroid species. Obviously they have made more from the one."

Samus explained for Link. "His name is Link, he has been fighting the evil Ganondorf in the land of Hyrule. And as far as I can tell that desert we went to before was Hyrule, was it Link?"

"Yes."

After a bit of silence and nudging from Otacon Snake decided to tell a little bit. "My name's Solid Snake. I've been working under the secret organization FOXHOUND until it was dissolved. More recently I've been working with Otacon to hunt down and destroy the anti-nuclear weapon Metal Gear in what ever form it takes. While I was investigating a Metal Gear created by the US Navy named RAY, One of those green balls showed up and Sonic came running out. We didn't know what to make of it. After a while of studying these orbs, a man came out of one wearing a security guard suit by the name of Barney Calhoun. He explained the situation to Otacon and now we've been working on finding these guys out."

"Where is this Barney now?" Samus asked.

"He's on an assignment in a place called 'City 17'. He gave us our teleport and sent us here. The scientists named this place Black Mesa, after their previous work station."

So now that left the bright-eyed man. Surprisingly it was quicker than they expected to have him talk.

"My name is Cloud Strife. I've been working with a party of others to destroy a planet-killing corporation called Shinra. And then Sephiroth…we have to find him!"

"Calm down Cloud." Otacon stood up and pushed his glasses back up. "We can't just go rushing in, we have to work to take them out slowly by destroying reactors and what not in Antarctica."

"Woo!" Megaman shouted.

Cloud stood up. "We don't have time for that! Sephiroth is going to get what he needs and destroy us all!"

"Don't you mean Eve? I thought this Sephiroth was the second in command." Snake asked.

"It's just a ploy!" Cloud shouted. "Sephiroth is going to betray them all!"

"Hey! Be quiet for a second." Otacon shouted. None of them had seemed to notice that a phone was ringing. Otacon picked up the phone. "Yes? Really? And island? Yes, I'll tell them." Otacon hung up the phone. "That was one of the scientists. He said that we've gotten information that points out a secret base on an island out off the coast of,"

"What kind of island?" Megaman interrupted. "Have you got a picture of it?"

Otacon showed a satellite picture that was taken of the island to Megaman. It was in the shape of a large skull.

"That's Wily's island. Let's go."

So the team headed over to the teleporter room. They all got situated and were teleported away.

"I hope your soon return." Otacon said as they teleported.

The team again arrived at the blue and purple-skied planet again and then appeared in a grassy jungle area.

"Now be careful, this place is loaded with traps." Megaman said carefully moving through the forest. After walking for several hours, Sonic got fed up and ran ahead. Before Megaman could warn him to stop Sonic had already ran out of the jungle, and Megaman was right behind him. "I told you it wasn't much farther."

Sonic shrugged his shoulders, put his hands behind his head and continued walking. As soon as they had walked over the first hill they all stopped speechless as they looked down upon the hoards of robots that stood between them and the large skull shaped base with a big W on the forehead.

Before another word could be said Megaman rushed down the hill firing and destroying dozens of the robots. Samus sighed and ran down as well, Sonic slowly followed, Link unsheathed his sword, grabbed his shield and ran down with a yell, Cloud grabbed his sword and charged down. Snake, having only fought one kind of robot in his life was unsure of how this would go. But he grabbed his FAMAS assault rifle and charged down.

Megaman was able to hit his targets causing them to explode on contact; Samus used a variety of different beam weapons and missiles taking out several robots, Sonic ran though slicing several robots into pieces, Link sliced through robots one at a time, whereas Cloud took out several at a time with his huge sword, Snake had a harder time as bullets aren't the best things against robots and he was in too crowded an area to use a STINGER or NIKITA.

They all continued to run through the battlefield of robots, until they found themselves at the front door.

"You guys are gonna go in through the front door?" Snake asked standing back against the wall.

Megaman stood in front of the massive door. "It's how I've done this before." Megaman stood up to a large keypad. "Now what was that code? Ah yes, 6853 5646 1241 7515 I believe." Megaman punched the numbers in, the keypad flashed and the doors opened.

"How many times have you gotten into this base?" Snake asked, surprised that Megaman knew the code off the top of his head.

Megaman thought. "Let's see, about eight times I think. Though, it changes location and form each time." Megaman smiled.

There was a large dark room to enter into. So the team entered, the lights suddenly flashed on only starling Link a little this time.

The lights revealed six robots, one was large, had red armor on his legs arms and shoulders, his chest was covered by a black plate and the rest of his body was yellow. He also wore a yellow hard hat on his head.

"Gutsman!" This one shouted.

The next was similar height to Megaman, he was actually very similar to Megaman in appearance except his body was white, save for his orange arms, legs, and groin area. He also had a large pair of scissors on his head.

"Cutman!" Shouted this one.

The next was also the size of Megaman, this one wore a blue coat much like an Eskimo, a silver belt and white gloves and boots.

"Iceman!"

The next was gray, save for his red chest armor and red gun-arms. He also had a torch on his head.

"Fireman!"

Next was a robot that was mostly black, save his red arms, he wore a yellow mask over his eyes that had a lightning bolt going up from the center.

"Elecman!"

The final robot was a little plump, his body was mostly black, with red chest armor, yellow gloves and boots, and a yellow head with a red mohock. He also carried a large cliché bomb.

"Bombman!"

The team was a little shocked, they knew this wasn't going to be an easy battle.

Gutsman stepped forward. "Who dares to enter Dr. Wilys fortress?"

The team huddled together, weapons at the ready, six on six, one for each of them.

Samus readied his gun. "I'll take on the Eskimo, I can use plasma beam on him."

"I'll take the big one with the hard hat." Sonic said. "Hey Link, you wanna take the one with the scissors on his head?"

"Yes."

Cloud readied his sword. "I'll take on the electric one."

Snake had to think hard about his choice, either the one with fire coming out of his head or the one with the bomb. "Megaman, which one are you going to take?"

"I'll take all of them." And Megaman dashed out.

The rest of the team was startled by Megamans dash, but to their surprise, so were the six robots.

Megaman first took aim onto Gutsman, he fired a few normal shots at him first, which knocked him back a little bit. Gutsman then jumped into air crashing heavily onto the ground causing a large chunk of rock to fall from the ceiling, Gutsman then tossed the large rock at Megaman. Megaman slid under the rock, fired a few more shots at Gutsman and then began to charge, when he had gotten clear of the rock he jumped up and fired the charge blast in Gutsman face plowing straight through it causing Gutsman to explode.

The rest of the team was startled by how easily Megaman had gone through the large Gutsman. What came next surprised them even more. Megaman charged Cutman firing a few shots along the way. Cutman took the scissors from the top of his head and tossed them at Megaman. Megaman jumped over the scissors while firing a few more shots. Upon landing Megaman shone a bright light, and when the light faded he was a different color. His helmet, gloves, and boots all became orange while the rest of his body was white. Megaman then picked up the rock that Gutsman had thrown at him earlier and tossed it at Cutman, crushing him and making him explode.

Megaman then changed again, into a black and white color. He went running towards Elecman. Elecman fired a beam of electricity at Megaman, Megaman jumped over the beam and fired a large pair of shears at Cutman slicing him in two.

Megaman turned into a black and yellow color and fired a beam of electricity at Iceman, after dodging some ice projectiles, destroying him. Megaman changed into a blue and white color and destroyed Fireman with sharp ice wedges, then, changing into a red and orange color, fired a blast of fire at Bombman setting him ablaze and destroying him.

Megaman returned to his normal blue color and wiped his hands.

"Megaman," Samus said after a while. "How long have you been able to do that?"

Megaman looked around. "Do what?"

"That thing where you stole those robots powers!"

"I've been able to do that forever. Remember when I told I wished Wily had made Robot Masters when we first met?

Samus thought about this.

"Well anyway, if Wily put the original six robots on the first floor I can only fear what will be on the next one." And with that Megaman rushed towards the stairs. The rest of the team dashed after him.

When they had finished climbing the stairs they came across a large shutter.

"What's behind this?" Asked Sonic. "More of those big robots?"

Megaman inspected the shutter. "No, you see if this did lead to a boss there would be a big Dr. Wily insignia above it. Meaning that this only leads to a mini-boss." With that Megaman walked up to it, the shutter whirred, a large lock turned in the center of it and it opened. When they walked inside all they found was a large empty room, and one black robot with a gem in the center of his chest, and large flared extensions on the top of his helmet.

"Megaman…."The robot said.

Megaman pointed his buster at the robot. "Bass!"

"Put down your buster Megaman, I'm not your enemy this time."

"I've heard that story before Bass."

"Wily has lost it, for the past several years he's been working on a new robot that he said would blow the both of us away. It's nearing completion, but it's not ready yet. If he tried to activate it now it would mean the end of all of us."

Megaman lowered his buster. "Why do you need me?"

"This robot is far to powerful, I can't stop it myself. As much as it pains me to say it, you and I will have to fight together." Bass extended his hand to Megaman.

Megaman walked forward and shook Bass's hand.

"Though, as soon as this is over you're mine."

"I look forward to it." Megaman turned to the rest of the team. "It's ok, let's go!" Snake, Samus, Sonic, Cloud and Link were all a little untrusting of this situation, but went along with them to a large teleportation device. Bass stepped in, and was zapped away, and then Megaman, Samus, Snake, Link, Sonic, and Cloud followed. Upon arriving at their destination they came to another large shutter, this one with the Dr. Wily logo above it. Megaman prepared himself, and walked in.

The room was that of a laboratory, countless computer devices, cables, and papers were scattered everywhere. In the center though, was a capsule with a shaded figure within it and in front of the capsule was Dr. Wily.

"Bass, you have betrayed me. Your own creator."

"You knew it was coming sooner or later." Bass aimed his buster at the old scientist.

Wily laughed, and turned to them. "You cannot defeat him, he will destroy all of you."

"It's not ready yet! If you activate him he'll kill you!"

Wily laughed and pushed a few buttons on the capsule. Its cover lifted, a blast of mist shot from it. When it cleared it revealed a red robot, with long blonde hair. The robot opened its eyes, and stepped out of its container.

Wily laughed again. "I give you, Zero! The ultimate force of destruction, he will be my ride to world domination!"

Megaman looked with awe at this new robot Wily had created, this, Zero.

"Are you ready Bass?" Megaman got ready for a tough battle with Zero. He looked over at Bass to see him standing by Wily's side. "Bass!"

"Heh, don't worry Megaman. I'm just here to watch this plan fail like all of Wily's other plans before, as soon as you've destroyed Zero it'll be you and me again."

"Actually Bass, I don't need you anymore. Zero is superior to you in every way." Wily looked up at Bass with a grin.

"What are you talking about Wily?"

Wily pointed at Bass. "Zero, destroy him."

Nothing happened.

Zero stood there, staring down into his hands. Wily commanded him again, Zero looked up at Wily who was shouting and pointing at Bass. Bass stood with a surprised face. Zero looked away from them and began scanning the team, Cloud…Samus…Snake…Megaman. Zero stopped, his eyes widened, he let out a yell and charged at Megaman. Wily shouted at Zero, but Zero continued his charge. Megaman dodged an oncoming punch and resorted to dodging many more.

Megaman attempted to fire a few shots at Zero, each one having no effect. Zero then punched Megaman sending him flying into the wall. Zero smiled and began to run towards Megaman again, Samus stepped in front of him.

Zero shifted his arm into a buster, this buster was much larger than Megaman's and Bass's. Zero fired a shot into Samus's chest that sent him flying back. Megaman took this time to stand back up and fire a charge shot at Zero that hit him, though it had no effect yet, Megaman was now at a loss. Samus got back up, and the team prepared for battle. Zero looked around at the competition he had, and smiled.

Sonic dashed forward, jumped, spun into a ball and went spinning towards Zero. Zero held out a hand, caught Sonic and tossed him across the room. Link charged slashing at Zero, who successfully dodged each swing, Cloud then came in also slashing at Zero who dodged each swing. Cloud horizontally swiped at Zero, Zero jumped, landed on the sword, performed a sliding kick to Cloud's head. Cloud was knocked back and let go of his Buster Sword, Zero grabbed hold of the sword's hilt, landed on the ground, spun the sword in the air for a little bit and swung it at Link. Link managed to block the blow with his shield, but the tremendous size of the buster sword added to Zero's immense strength sent Link flying. Zero then tossed buster sword aside.

Zero took this time to try and attack Megaman. Megaman used Gutsman power to lift a large rock from when he hit the wall and tossed it at Zero, Zero shot at the rock destroying it. Megaman fired a large pair of scissors at Zero. Zero caught the scissors by the blades and broke them in two. Megaman went through the rest of his stolen powers with no effect.

At that time a large green energy blast hit Zero.

"Bass!" Megaman smiled.

Bass said nothing. He had seen that his blast had no effect, and he knew that Zero would now come at him. Zero began running at Bass and fired at the same time. Bass jumped to dodge the blasts and began firing a series of rapid purple blasts that hit Zero pushing him back a small way. Zero jumped into the air to avoid the blasts, but Bass pointed his buster at a diagonal position and continued to fire at Zero. This came to a shock to Megaman because he was unaware that Bass could change the direction of his shot. Zero landed on the ground again and ran towards Bass, Bass as well began to run. Zero then took his feet off the ground and directed the soles of his boots to the back, he then released a charge of energy from his feet that sent him flying forward, and Bass also did this. The two collided and commenced hand-to-hand combat, Bass was able to hold his own but he knew he couldn't last long.

At that same time Samus fired a missile at Zero while he would be focusing on Bass. The missile got to within impact distance of Zero when he caught it. Zero gave Samus a hard look while not losing a beat against Bass. Zero then took a small jump back and tossed the missile horizontally to Bass, the missile connected knocking Bass back. Zero then dashed at Samus. Samus fired a charged shot at Zero, Zero formed a fist and drew his hand and swung down striking the blast ricocheting it back to Samus. This took Samus by surprise, Samus jumped to avoid the blast and went flying above Zero. Samus charged another blast and prepared to fire it directly down at Zero. Zero leapt in the air and met Samus in the air. Samus did not expect Zero to able to jump this high Zero pulled back his fist and punched Samus in mid-air. Samus flew back, kicked off the wall, charged and fired a Super-Missile at Zero. Right before the super missile was able to hit Zero jumped again in mid air to dodge.

Zero landed on the ground to notice a large missile coming towards him. He could see from the behind the missile was Solid Snake with a STINGER missile launcher. Zero stepped over to one side as the missile was right near him, brought his fist into the air and struck the missile on it's back end causing it to cartwheel back towards Snake. Snake back flipped, kicked off of the wall, flying forward, right over the missile before it would hit him making it explode upon the wall behind him. When he landed Zero punched him in the chest, sending him into the wall that was just blown up behind him. He hit the wall with a crash and fell unconscious.

Though, right after Zero had charged Megaman the first time everyone seemed to not take notice of Dr. Wily anymore, and there was reason for that. After the action had begun Wily used a hidden door to escape, for that door led to a path that would take him to his flying saucer. Wily was at the final shutter to his hanger when, an unknown entity grabbed the back of his coat, and a familiar whistle was heard.

"Where do you think your going Wily." Protoman asked.

Wily struggled helplessly. "Let me go Protoman, do you want to die too?"

"And what will kill me?"

"Don't you know what your brother Megaman is fighting right now?"

"Huh?"

Wily chuckled. "Megaman won't survive much longer, even Bass is no match for this new robot."

Protoman looked down the hall. "Megaman." Protoman said under a whisper.

Dr. Wily used this moment to his advantage. While Protoman was busy worrying about Megaman, he slipped out of his lab coat, jumped in his flying saucer and took off.

Protoman threw the coat down and chased after him. A compartment on the top opened, Wily lifted his head out, raised his eye brows up and down a couple of times and zoomed off.

Protoman stopped at the end of the hanger and cursed himself. He turned around and decided to see this battle.

Samus fired a charged red beam that struck Zero, Zero was knocked back a short distance but kept coming.

"There's no way to beat this thing!" Samus dodged a blow and continued firing.

Cloud dashed forward and began slashing at Zero with his sword, Zero was able to dodge each slash. Cloud drew his sword back and swung is down at Zero, Zero caught the massive blade in a hand and fired a large buster shot into Cloud. Zero tossed the sword aside.

Cloud stood back up and collected his sword. "That's it." Cloud spun his sword in the air a few times, placed it on his back and began to be surrounded by a green light, he thrust out a hand and sent a wave of fire at Zero, who managed to jump the wave with ease. Then, while Zero was still in the air, Cloud summoned a bolt of lightning to strike Zero. This surprised Zero, but he was still able to perform a second air jump and avoid the bolt. Zero then came down upon Cloud with a fist to the top of his head, sending him face first into the ground.

Link tried a second go at the red robot, he charged and began to slash with his blue hilted sword. Zero managed to dodge the blows and made his way over to the capsule that contained him, he pulled of a long thin pipe and used it as a blade to battle Link, though in this battle Link had the upper hand.

Link slashed, hacked, and blocked until Zero found himself cornered. Zero thrust the pipe forward, Link blocked it with his shield and got knocked back a short distance, but distance enough for Zero to escape. Zero tossed the pipe aside searched the room for Megaman. Having spotted him he dashed to him once more.

Megaman did not try to escape, but he prepared for the fight.

"This won't be easy you know." Protoman said standing next to him.

Megaman double taked. "Protoman, you didn't whistle!"

"Don't worry, I'll make it up to you."

"If you die here then I might as well too." Bass stood to the opposite side.

"Bass, Protoman…thank you." Megaman stared forward in determination.

All three took aim, charged, and fired. The three shots sped at Zero, who jumped over them with ease. Zero never once took his eyes of Megaman.

The three dashed away from Zero and commenced firing. Zero dodged them and fired a blast at Megaman. Protoman dashed forward and blocked the shot with his shield. Bass jumped a small way into the air, rocketed to Zero, and fired a charge shot. Zero jumped to avoid the shot, and Bass thrust upward with a kick that knocked Zero from the air.

Megaman changed into a green and white color and tossed a large bomb right as Zero landed. Zero noticed this bomb right as its fuse went out causing a large explosion. Megaman, Protoman, and Bass all joined up together and waited for the smoke to clear, Zero didn't.

From inside the smoke they could see a white flashing light, then yellow, then green, and finally a pink. A blast larger to any that Zero had fired before flew from the smoke hitting Bass, a second fired immediately after it hitting Protoman, and then Zero came flying out of the smoke and grasped Megaman by the neck and held him into the air. Zero smiled, and gave an evil laugh, all the while gripping harder onto Megamans neck.

Then, Zero's eyes widened, he let go of Megaman, stumbled back in pain, and a large W shone from the crystal on his head. Zero grasped his head screaming in pain, he then charged a blast and began to fire randomly into the air, taking out large sections of the fortress and making it begin to crumble.

"We have to get out of here!" Shouted Megaman. "Protoman, grab as many as you can and take them to Dr. Light's lab! Bass!" Megaman looked for him but he had already left. Megaman sighed, and ran over to Samus and Sonic, grabbed them and teleported away as the fortress crumbled.

Zero continued to shout and fire, until he brought down Dr. Wily's entire fortress down on top of him.


	4. Chapter 4

1Chapter four: Shedding some Light

Megaman, Samus and Sonic all beamed into Dr. Light's laboratory. "Dr. Light!" Megaman shouted. "I'm back!" Megaman went running into the next room to find the rest of the team and two girls, both with blonde hair, one wearing a red dress, the other wearing a red coat and a black hat.

"Oh Rock you're back!" The one in the dress jumped up and hugged Megaman.

"Rock?" Sonic asked.

Megaman pulled off his helmet revealing his thick black hair. "Yeah, that's my name."

"Oh Rock, your hair's a mess." The red dressed girl picked up a hairbrush and began brushing Megaman's hair.

"And who's this?" Samus asked. "You're girlfriend?"

Megaman smiled. "No, this is Roll, my sister." Megaman and Roll smiled.

"Wait," Sonic rubbed his forehead. "Rock and Roll? Who came up with that? Better question. I thought you were a robot, how can you have a sister?"

"And who's the other one?" Samus asked pointing to the one in the black hat.

"This is Kalinka," Megaman answered. "She's the daughter of Dr. Cossack. Hey, where's Protoman?

"He left right after he dropped us off." Snake said rubbing his neck.

"Where's Dr. Light?" Megaman asked. Roll, looked at the ground. "Roll, what's wrong with Dr. Light?"

Roll led Megaman to Dr. Light's room, inside Dr. Light laid on a bed and another scientist, this one was much taller than Dr. Light, had short brown hair, a short brown beard and glasses, stood over his bed.

"Dr. Cossack! What's wrong with Dr. Light?" Megaman asked running up to Dr. Light's bedside.

Dr. Cossack put his hand on Megamans shoulder. "It's ok Megaman, it's nothing to worry about. Dr. Light is just merely running a bit of a fever. Kalinka, take Megaman and his friends to the living room will you please?" Dr. Cossack had an easy to notice Russian accent.

"Yes Father." Kalinka showed them all to a large living quarters area.

"They're gone now Thomas, continue what you were saying." Cossack said after making sure the door was closed.

Dr. Light coughed a small bit. "As I was saying, over the past ten years I have been working on a new kind of robot, this robot will be unlike any other before. It will be capable of all human emotion, anger, fear, love." Dr. Light coughed again. "It will be the savior of the next generation. However, I will not see it done."

Dr. Cossack closed his eyes and nodded.

"So, Sergi." More coughing. "I entrust you in making sure my greatest work stays safe and secret until it can be completed. You are a wise scientist, but this robot would be far out of your league. No offense of course."

"Of course, Thomas."

Dr. Light slowly stood up from his bed and grabbed a cane next to his bed. He opened a drawer on his bedside dresser and picked up a key. He walked over to a door on the other side of the room and unlocked it. He walked in telling Cossack to follow him.

"Remember this place Sergi, when I am gone you must come here again. And set the hologram for when my work will be found again." Dr. Light flipped a switch activating the machines in the room, shining light onto a robot lying on a revolving bed. The bed moved to a more vertical position, the robot looked similar to Megaman but with a kind of armor over his chest, legs, and arms. It was also much taller and had a bigger buster.

"I give you, Megaman X."

Roll placed some drinks on a table in the living room.

"Thanks Roll." Said Megaman picking up a glass.

"So Rock," Roll sat down in a chair. "You haven't introduced all your friends yet."

Megaman sat his glass down. "Alright, the one in the orange armor is Samus, the blue hedgehog is Sonic, the guy in the green clothing is Link, the guy in the gray with the bandana is Solid Snake, and the guy with the shiny eyes is Cloud. Everyone, this is Roll, and Kalinka."

They all said their greetings.

Sonic looked at Kalinka and Roll for a moment. "So, who all here is a robot? I know I'm not, Snake, Link, and Cloud aren't, Megaman and Samus I'm not sure about, and Roll and Kalinka here."

Megaman laughed. "I am a robot, as is Roll. Kalinka is a human, and…I don't know about Samus."

"I'm human." Samus didn't move.

At that moment Dr. Light and Cossack entered the room.

"Dr. Light!" Megaman jumped up. "Are you ok?"

"Yes Megaman I am fine. I haven't met all your friends."

Megaman went through and introduced them all.

"It is good to meet you all." Dr. Light said as he finished shaking hands. "Samus is it? You're armor is fascinating, might I have a look at it, for science's sake?"

"I would prefer not." Samus said straightforwardly.

"Fair enough. Mr. Snake, I have something that might help you. Roll, take Snake here to see Auto and give Auto this." Dr. Light handed Roll a slip of paper he had just written on and they left.

"So," Snake said after a while of silence. "You're a robot."

Roll chuckled. "Yeah."

"Do you have any special powers?"

"I don't have a Mega Buster if that's what you mean."

"Dr. Light must be a brilliant scientist to make a robot so lifelike and, cute."

Roll stopped and giggled. "Uh, here we are."

Snake and Roll came into a large garage like room where a large green robot, and a smaller robot that looked like a red box with legs stood.

"Hello Auto." Roll knelt down and patted the small red robot on the head. "Hello to you too Eddie.

"What can we do for you Ms. Roll?" Auto said.

Roll handed Auto the slip of paper. "Dr. Light told me to give you this."

Auto carefully looked at the paper. "Yes, of course right away!" Auto held the paper down for Eddie to see, Eddie read the paper and smiled. Auto reached up onto a shelf and grabbed a large number of bolts, Eddie flipped his top and Auto put the number of bolts into him. Eddie shook around for a few seconds and opened again, Auto reached in and pulled out a buster similar to Megamans only black in color and handed it to Snake.

"What do I do with this?" Snake inspected the buster in his hand.

"Just slide it onto your arm and it will work just like Megamans buster, and you can just take it off again when not using it. The great thing about this model is that if you don't have the time to take it off when you need both hands it will convert into your hand while you are still wearing it, and convert back into buster. Though, you can't take it off when it is in hand mode."

Snake slipped it onto his right hand, it shone for a moment and was connected.

"How does it fire?"

"Even easier! It's done through a nerve process!"

"What does that mean."

"You pull the trigger in your mind!"

Snake looked at the buster for a moment, pointed it at a target and fired a large blast.

"I think I'll hold onto this."

"Well, we had better be going." Roll said. "Thanks again Auto!"

They arrived to see all of Link's weapons sprawled out on a table.

"Really? This hook shot is the most advanced weapon you have?" Dr. Light asked while looking through some of Links weapons.

"Dr. Light, I'm sorry but we need to get going." Megaman said from behind him.

"Oh yes, of course. I'm sure you're dreadfully busy, but first take this with you." Dr. Light put down a slingshot of Links' he was curiously looking over and handed Megaman a small red control.

"What's this for?"

"With this you can summon Rush from anywhere, I understand you have gone a long distance."

"Yeah, thanks Dr. Light. I'm gonna go see the animals quick though."

"Good idea Megaman."

Megaman went into a laboratory room where several robotic animals were.

Sonic looked at them curiously. "Robot animals?"

Megaman smiled. "Yeah, let me introduce you to them." Megaman pointed over to a green robotic cat. "Over there is Tango." Megaman held out his hand and a small round blue robot bird perched on it. "This is Beat." A red robot dog walked up to his side. "And this is Rush."

Sonic found all of the robots ridiculous.

Megaman said his farewells to everyone there and they headed home.

"I'm glad you're all back." Otacon said walking up to them.

Sonic stretched his legs. "Got the next mission for us yet Ottie?"

Otacon was a little taken back by 'Ottie'.

Otacon pushed up his glasses. "Not yet, but I have discovered something amazing." Otacon walked up to a large computer and pushed a few buttons. "While you were in Dr. Wily's laboratory I was able to get a few coordinates from his computer. I can now track their teleports. Though, they have yet to make one since I've gotten this working. So until then, why don't you guys take a rest?"

Megaman stretched his arms. "Sounds like a plan to me."

The team walked into a large waiting room with a bunch of sofas and chairs and sat down.

"There's some vending machines over there if you're thirsty or hungry, or you can go to the VR Training Course for some training." Otacon suggested.

Snake, and Cloud both stood up and went out to the VR Training while Megaman, Samus, Sonic, and Link stayed behind. Otacon purchased five sodas, laid four out on the table, and took the fourth one with him to the VR Training room.

"Say Samus," Said Sonic pulling the tab of his soda. "How do you and Link know each other already?"

"It was a while back," Samus began explaining. "I was summoned to a strange tournament led by a creature calling himself 'Master Hand'. Link was also summoned there, as were many other heroes from different worlds. It was there also where I met Ganondorf."

"Master Hand? What was his deal?" Megaman asked drinking.

"He is as his name says. He was a giant floating hand wearing a white glove."

Sonic and Megaman shrugged and took a drink.

"Oh," Sonic said pulling his soda down. "If forgot to ask earlier but what's the deal with Protoman and Bass, who made them?"

"Protoman," Megaman thought for a moment. "He was made by Dr. Light and Dr. Wily together, before I was created and before Wily went mad. After he was created Protoman ran away and appears every now and again only to disappear again. Bass on the other hand was made completely by Dr. Wily. It was about…the seventh time I fought Wily that I first met him. Wily had created him trying to make a robot similar to myself when he stumbled upon a wonderful new power source called 'Bassnium'. Bass posed as our alley in the beginning but showed his true alliance to Wily."

Sonic thought for a minute and looked over at Link who was inspecting the can of soda in his hands.

"Hey Link, let me help you with that."

"Hey Cloud," Snake fired at a floating green target in the Virtual Reality Training. "What's the deal with you and Sephiroth?"

Cloud stopped for a moment and then continued slashing through the targets. "Many years ago I was a member of Shinra's army force called SOLDIER, in hopes of becoming as well known and strong as Sephiroth. We were sent on a mission to my hometown of Nibelhiem to inspect the Mako reactors. While there Sephiroth discovered something about his past, went crazy, killed everyone in the town and burned it to the ground."

Snake stared at Cloud for a moment, gave a sigh, and continued shooting the targets.

"After that I left SOLDIER, and later joined a man named Barret and his anti-Shinra team AVALANCHE. Our goal was to destroy the Mako reactors within the city of Midgar. But, Sephiroth re-appeared ten years after he burned my hometown down in Midgar, killed the President of Shinra, and took the creature called Jenova, which Sephiroth claimed was his mother. I was unsure of Sephiroth's goal, until I learned about the black materia."

"Materia?" Snake asked.

"It's a concentrated form of energy that allows a person to use magic powers, like this." Cloud put his sword behind his back, a green light shone from him, and a bolt of lightning struck a green target, Snake was taken back by this. "Anyway, Sephiroth attempted to gain control of the black materia, but we got it first. Then Sephiroth…" Cloud closed his eyes, and bowed his head. He lifted his head and dashed towards a team of targets. Snake thought about what Cloud had said, and what it was Sephiroth had done, it had to have been something terrible.

Later when Snake and Cloud had finished they made their way back to the waiting room to find Link soaked and Sonic on the ground laughing.

Snake took a step back. "What the…"

Megaman took a breath from laughter. "Sonic told Link that he had to shake up his soda before he opened it, and it fizzed all over him when he did."

Samus stood across the room obviously not wanting to have any part of it.

Just then Otacon came rushing in. "Everyone, they just made a jump!"

The team all ran into the computer room where Otacon pushed a few buttons and an image came to the large screen. "Right now, I can only see where they went, not where they came from. According to this they've gone to the land of Mobius."

Sonic ran forward. "Mobius, Eggman must have told them about the Chaos Emeralds!"

"What are the Chaos Emeralds?" Asked Megaman when no one else did.

"The Chaos Emeralds are seven gems of immense power, when a person has collected all seven they can become endowed with amazing super powers. Eve is probably wanting to gain their power."

Otacon stepped over to the teleport controls. "You must hurry and try to get there in time before they get them" The team stepped into the teleport and were sent away.


	5. Chapter 5

1Chapter five: Classic Metal, New Gear.

The team appeared in a forest area with tall trees and large mushrooms.

"Sonic, where would these Chaos Emeralds be?" Snake asked swatting some bugs from his face.

Sonic looked around. "Well, if I know Eggman like I do he'd probably go after the Master Emerald on The Floating Isle."

"Where's The Floating Isle?" Samus asked.

Sonic turned around and pointed to a large island floating in the sky.

Megaman stared at it. "How do we get up there?"

"Leave that to me." Sonic smiled and ran off into the forest like a rocket. A moment later he returned and behind him was an orange two-tailed fox. "Everyone this is Miles Prower we call him Tails."

"Nice to meet you all." Said Tails.

After everyone was introduced Sonic gave them his plan. Sonic took them to a clear section of the forest where a red bi-plane sat with 'Sonic' written in white paint on its side.

"Pretty neat huh?" Sonic said standing next to it.

Tails counted the party. "Sonic, there are only two seats on the plane though."

Sonic waved his hand. "Not to worry, there's plenty of room. I can stand on the top, Samus how balanced are you?"

"I can stay on the wing." Samus said looking the plane over.

Megaman pulled out the controller Dr. Light had given him earlier. "I can get there myself." A red beam came down from the sky revealing a red robotic dog. "Rush, I need you turn into Rush Jet mode." The dog barked and laid down, two thrusters came out from its hips and it's back became flat and smooth. Megaman stood on top of the dog and it began to ascend into the air.

Sonic looked over at Snake, Link, and Cloud. "Which one of you has the worst balance?"

"Let's do this," Snake pulled a coin out of his pocket. "Heads, I take the seat. Tails, Link gets it."

It came up heads and Snake got the seat, and they headed off for The Floating Isle. Upon arriving they got the plane ready and Tails stood by it to keep it safe, Rush came out of Jet mode and waited there as well.

"So, where's the Master Emerald?" Megaman asked a little down the road.

Sonic looked around. "It shouldn't be much farther, here!" Sonic walked up to a wall and began to feel it. He then walked a ways back, ran towards it breaking it down revealing a hidden path.

Upon arriving outside they found a large open field with a gazebo like temple in the center of it, the temple was empty, and there lay a battered and bloody Echidna at its steps.

"Knuckles!" Sonic ran up to the Echidna and held him in his arms. He was red, with long dreadlocks, and white gloves with two spikes on the knuckles of each. "What happened?"

Knuckles coughed and told the story in a weak voice. "I was guarding the Master Emerald as normal, and then out of nowhere Eggman came with another man, a dark man with fire red hair."

Samus kneeled next to Sonic. "Ganondorf! He was here?"

Knuckles slowly nodded. "Eggman said he wanted the Master Emerald, and of course I wouldn't give it to him. Then, the man in the black cape walked forward. I fought him, and was defeated." Knuckles coughed. "In a desperate move the Emerald split itself up into the seven, but Ganondorf, used some kind of magic and caught them before they could scatter. Eggman has all seven Sonic, you have to stop him." Knuckles then passed out.

A time passed when no one said a thing. Samus was the first to break the silence.

"So, they have the Emeralds, and have gone to who knows where."

"I do." Said a voice.

The team turned to see a hedgehog similar looking to Sonic only black.

"Shadow, what do you want?" Sonic said still holding Knuckles.

"I can show you to where Eggman went."

"Why should we trust you?"

"Do you have a choice?"

Sonic thought about this for a moment.

"Fine, show us the way Shadow."

Cloud did a spell that slowly healed Knuckles and they left him on the temple steps. They got in the plane and flew down to a mountain with a metal shutter on its side.

"Eggman went in here." Shadow said walking up to the shutter.

Sonic was hesitant to follow, Shadow had done him wrong in the past by stealing Chaos Emeralds and framing him for it. But at the moment he had no other leads. Sonic walked up to the shutter, there was a whir, a large lock opened in the center of it and it flew open. Megaman noticed the familiarity of this and shot a blast of fire above the shutter revealing a large W.

"This is a Wily base!" Megaman shouted.

Sonic turned and grabbed Shadow by the fur on his chest. "Shadow, why did you bring us here?"

Just then, a flash of light surrounded Shadow. When it faded it revealed a shiny, spiked blue metal hedgehog.

"Mecha Sonic?" Sonic asked as the robot Sonic flew into the base. "We have to follow it." And Sonic went running into the base. The rest of the team followed him.

The shutter led to a room with nothing in it but a teleport.

Snake looked into it. "Do we go in?"

The team was hesitant, they knew that a trap of some kind laid in wait at the other end of the teleport. But they had no other option.

Cloud looked through a small satchel of items. "Is everyone on full health?"

The team checked to make sure they were fit for the fight and went into the teleport.

"Welcome my friends." Said a voice once they arrived.

"Eggman show yourself!" Sonic said shaking his fist into the darkness.

Just then a light snapped on revealing all of the villains.

Ridley sat perched on a ledge above Eve. Ocelot, Eggman, and Wily all stood on the left hand side of Eve and Ganondorf stood to her right. Sephiroth was nowhere to be seen. And Eve looked quite different.

She had two sets of arms, a large bulbous stomach, and very many breasts that seemed to go every which way.

Samus took a step forward. "Eve! What's your goal? Why are you doing this?" Once again it became increasingly hot.

Eve laughed and rubbed her stomach. "Do you know what's inside me? It is the Ultimate Being."

"Ultimate Being?" Samus took his step back.

The team began to pant and sweat under the enormous heat.

"The Ultimate Being is the strongest creature in existence. Nothing will be able to beat it and it shall rule the Earth."

"But why are all of our villains helping you?" Megaman asked.

"For their services I promised them that their goals should be met. Most were to have some kind of control over their respective worlds of course." Eve laughed.

Cloud scowled. "There's just one thing wrong with that."

Eve looked directly into Cloud's bright eyes. "And what is that?"

"Sephiroth cared nothing for control, all he wanted was power. What's Sephiroth's goal?"

Eve sighed. "Sephiroth joined with me because he believes in the Ultimate Being. He believes that it is the key to the Promised Land, that through it unspeakable power can be obtained."

"Now," Interrupted Dr. Wily. "Shall we get down to business?" Dr. Wily, Dr. Eggman, and Revolver Ocelot all took a dive for a door on the right side of the room, at that same moment Ganondorf left to a door on the left side.

"Link!" Snake shouted. "You take Samus and Cloud with you. Sonic, Megaman, and myself will follow Ocelot, Eggman, and Wily. Do you understand?"

Link nodded his head. "Yes."

And they headed to their doors.

Snake, Sonic, and Megaman all arrived at a teleport, they ran in without hesitation and arrived in a hangar like area where a giant robot stood. It had thick bird like legs, a skull for a torso, a rail cannon on its right shoulder and long arms made of silver spheres and large red hands.

"Do you like it Megaman?" Said Dr. Wily walking out in front of it. "It's made from ideas from all of us, Eggman, Ocelot and myself."

"It is the greatest robotic weapon ever created." Said Eggman appearing before them.

The two stood in front of the robot and held a hand up to it in a display fashion. And in unison said. "Presenting the ultimate destruction machine, Metal Gear Chaos."

They stood smiling for a small time as nothing happened.

"Ocelot!" Eggman shouted. "That was your cue!"

Then Revolver Ocelot ran under the legs of the Metal Gear, did a back flip as a small door to a cockpit opened in its forehead and landed safely inside the seat. The dark eyes of the skull opened and Eggman and Wily got into their seats as well. The doors all closed and the Metal Gear Chaos moved.

"Megaman." Sonic said in a nervous voice. "Has Dr. Wily ever used a robot like this before?"

"No, I've never seen anything like this."

Snake stared hard at the robot. "I have."

Sonic and Megaman looked up at Solid Snake.

"I've never seen one like this but I have fought many Metal Gears in my day."

Sonic looked back over at the Metal Gear. "So, how do destroy it?"

"There should be a view point on it somewhere, so that the person inside can see out. If we take that out he'll be blind."

At that moment a large red eye opened on the forehead of the skull.

"That should do it." Snake said with a smile.

Solid Snake pulled out a large missile launcher and focused it at the eye. He fired a missile like what he had shot at Zero earlier at the eye of the robot. The missile hit, and bounced off exploding when it hit the ground.

"What?" Snake said looking up.

A laugh came from the robot. "Such means will be of no use against Chaos." Said Eggman.

Megaman shifted to his buster. "If that won't how about this?" Megaman charged a blast, jumped and fired. Though, the eye wasn't in the jumping distance of Megaman so it hit near the upper jaw of the skull.

Sonic then ran to the back wall, took of with a dash and jumped in a spinning ball directly at the eye. Upon making contact with it he was hit with a jolt of electricity sending him flying.

The three of them gathered together and looked at Metal Gear Chaos. And were left baffled with how to beat it.

Link, Cloud, and Samus all ran into their teleport and appeared in a hanger area as well where Ganondorf stood alone.

Link readied his sword and shield, Cloud readied his sword, and Samus took aim onto Ganondorf.

"So, what do we do?" Cloud asked.

Samus looked over at Cloud. "Let Link do most the fighting, he's the only one who can even touch Ganondorf."

Ganondorf laughed and flew like a rocket at the three. He performed an uppercut with a dark magic force that sent Cloud flying into the air, kicked Samus across the room and began fighting Link.

Cloud crashed into the ground and slowly got himself back up. He then ran towards Ganondorf and began slashing his sword at him. Ganondorf was able to not even notice Cloud except for when he would block one of his blows and continued fighting Link.

Ganondorf flew into the air about in the center of the room and tossed a large ball of energy at Cloud. Cloud managed to quickly dodge the blast and see Ganondorf toss a blast at Link. Link struck the blast with his sword and sent it flying back at Ganondorf, Ganondorf then struck the blast back at Link with his fist at a greater speed. This continued for a short time each time the blast getting faster until Ganondorf struck the blast in the direction of Cloud. Cloud pulled back his Buster Sword and struck the blast as it came in range. The blast exploded on contact with the sword sending him flying. Ganondorf smiled and continued fighting Link.

Samus ran over to Cloud. "I don't get it." Cloud said slowly getting to his feet. "What's the difference between my sword and his?"

"His sword is the Master Sword." Samus said.

Cloud looked up with a surprised face. "Master Sword?"

"The Sword of Evil's Bane, The Master Sword is the blade wielded to destroy the forces of evil in whatever shape they take. Link is the one chosen to wield it to defeat Ganondorf. Only Link can kill Ganondorf."

Cloud thought about this. "Well, we're going to help him anyway."

Samus nodded. "That's right."

The two charged at Ganondorf, Cloud placed his sword on his back and powered up a magic attack while Samus charged a beam. Samus fired a large yellow blast at Ganondorf that he canceled out with ease while Cloud thrust out his hand and a large green blast of energy surrounded Ganondorf. Ganondorf took little to no damage from the magic but left him open while Link continued his slash.

Ganondorf saw the annoyance caused by Cloud and Samus and felt it best to dispose of them now. He fired a blast of energy at Link knocking him over and pulled back a punch surrounded with purple magic. Ganondorf shouted as he punched Samus, who managed to dodge at a slim moment by jumping. Samus shifted his gun to fire missiles when Ganondorf jumped a short distance and grabbed a hold of Samus. Ganondorf kicked off him with an explosion of energy leaving Samus with nothing but to fall to the ground.

Ganondorf then turned to Cloud. Cloud dashed at Ganondorf and began a slashing attack that Ganondorf dodged with ease. Ganondorf performed a magic attack that created a large purple sphere around Cloud, the sphere lifted to the air and began to strike Cloud with high amounts of voltage. Ganondorf thought this would be efficient enough for the moment.

Ganondorf turned his attention back to Link who at that moment fired an arrow surrounded by a glowing light into Ganondorf. Ganondorf was taken back by this and was stunned for a moment. Link used this opportunity to fire another light arrow at the sphere containing Cloud. The sphere evaporated and Cloud fell to the ground. This angered Ganondorf, he needed a new plan to take care of Cloud and Samus so his attention could be focused on Link.

At that moment a door was thrust open and Sephiroth walked in.

"Amazing timing Sephiroth, I have a favor to ask of you." Ganondorf said with a smile.

Sephiroth did nothing.

"Would you take care of the two lying over there? They interfere with my business." Ganondorf pointed over at Cloud and Samus slowly trying to make an attempt at getting back up.

Sephiroth looked over at them, then over at Ganondorf. Sephiroth made a small smile and nodded his head.

Ganondorf smiled, nodded his head and got ready to fight again with Link, this time without interruption.

"Look out!" Snake shouted as a large fist crashed into the wall.

Snake, Sonic and Megaman had been trying to fight the Metal Gear Chaos. Snake was sure that there would be ample time to come up with a plan. In his past experiences the Metal Gear's had been pretty slow when moving, this one wasn't like the past. This Metal Gear was fast on its feet and with its hands. Surprising all for how big it was.

Eggman and Wily laughed from inside. "Do you give up yet Megaman?" Wily asked.

Megaman held out his fist. "I'll never give up until I stop you Wily!"

The three grouped up together. "Ok," Sonic said very slowly. "There has to be a weak spot on it somewhere, we've tried hitting the eye, the eyes of the skull, its legs everything."

Megaman thought. "The skull is the main spot, it has to have the weak spot on it somewhere. And since it's a skull it would have to be a Wily plan." Megaman looked it over thinking, just then the eye blinked and Megaman had the answer. "It's like the Yellow Devil!"

"Yellow Devil?" Snake asked.

"Yeah, it's a robot that Wily has made me fight a couple of times. Its eye is always the weak point and I always use an electric attack for it." Megaman shifted to Elecman form and dashed at the robot. He stopped directly under it and fired three bolts of electricity, one going down, one going forward, and one going up. The one going up struck the eye, and a volt of electricity ran through the entire robot immobilizing it for a moment. Megaman turned around and gave a thumbs up to the team. He was then struck by a blast from the eye that sent him plummeting to the ground.

Sonic ran over, picked up Megaman and Snake and hid in a safe, for the moment, spot.

Snake shook Megaman a small bit. "Megaman, are you alright?"

Megaman regained consciousness and was all right.

Sonic sat down. "So, now we know how to fight it. But only Megaman has the Mega Buster and electric powers."

"Not the only one." Snake said pulling the buster he had gotten from Auto earlier. He slipped it onto his arm, it shone for a second and changed to a yellow color. "Megaman and I will attack it, Sonic, you keep it busy by creating a distraction."

Sonic gave a salute and ran out. Megaman and Snake ran out shortly and began to hit the eye with electricity. The Metal Gear had little to no time to strike back between blasts.

"It's working Megaman!" Snake shouted as he fired a beam of electricity into the eye.

Megaman stood under it firing the three beams with the top one hitting the eye. "Keep it up!" Then Megaman stopped shooting. He still attempted to fire but a blast wouldn't fly.

Sonic stopped running for a moment. "Megaman, what happened?"

"I must be out of weapon energy! Snake, you have to keep hitting it!"

Snake continued his attack but it wasn't enough to subdue the machine. It's eye shined and it fired a beam at Snake that surrounded him and lifted him into the air. It's right arm extended and grabbed Sonic, it's left grabbed Megaman.

Megaman struggled in its hand. "Snake! Can you hear me?" Snake was immobilized, the most Megaman saw him move was when his eyes would shift.

The two hands began to clench crushing Megaman and Sonic.

"Well," Sonic said with last of his strength. "See you in The Other World."

Just then a red beam fell from the sky, it landed in a sphere of energy and dissolved to reveal a red robot with long blonde hair.

"Z…er…o." Megaman said with a last breath.

Zero looked up at Metal Gear Chaos, he studied it for a brief moment, laughed, and ran towards it. He quickly dodged a laser from the bottom of the torso and began to climb up the skull. Upon reaching the eye he formed his hand into a wedge and shoved it through. The hands released, as did the beam disappear, and Megaman, Sonic, and Snake fell to the ground.

"Is everyone alright?" Megaman said coughing.

Snake pulled out three round, brown boxes with a meal inside and handed two to Sonic and Megaman. Upon quickly eating they all stood up and saw Zero still with his fist in the eye of Metal Gear Chaos. His arm changed to his buster and began to charge a shot.

Snake took a step forward. "That's where Ocelot was!"

"If Zero fires that from there he'll kill him!" Megaman ran forward.

"Snake!" Shouted a voice from inside the Metal Gear.

Snake stopped. The voice wasn't Ocelot's, Wily's, or Eggman's. It was a voice he knew to well.

"Liquid?"

Zero fired his blast into the eye of Metal Gear Chaos causing it to fall over in flames. Zero jumped off the machine before it fell and landed nicely on his feet.

The eyes of the skull opened and Eggman and Wily slowly climbed out. Wily ran for the door and was grabbed by the back of his coat and thrown across the room by Zero. Zero aimed his buster at Wily as he lay helplessly on the ground. Zero smiled, fired, and was lifted off his feet by Megaman as his shot went flying into the wall.

"Megaman!" Wily shouted. "Why do you stop him?"

Megaman gritted his teeth under the immense weight of Zero. "No matter how evil a man is it's not right for a robot to kill him!"

"I am more than a robot."

Zero released a blast of energy knocking Megaman off of him.

Snake ran over to the Metal Gear and looked into the eye where Revolver Ocelot lay. "…Snake…"

Snake reached in and pulled him out and held him up. "Liquid."

Ocelot laughed, and in a different English accented voice said. "Yes brother."

"How did you survive the blast from Zero?"

"I'm not really sure myself, but it seems to have worked out for me. This is the second good thing that's happened to me all day."

"What do you mean?"

Liquid Snake laughed. "There is a traitor in our ranks."

"What?" Snake lowered Liquid to the ground.

"It was right before Ocelot came into fight against you in Metal Gear Chaos. The traitor approached Ocelot and used some form of magic to destroy his mind. Luckily, I was still here to occupy the body."

"Destroyed his mind? Who has the kind of power to do that?"

Sonic, after Eggman escaped, went up to the control panel where Wily sat. "Power supply?" Sonic pushed a red button that which said that and the jaw of the skull began to open, revealing the seven Chaos Emeralds. Which then slowly lifted into the air, and broke through the walls scattering. "So that's why they called it Metal Gear Chaos."

Zero stared directly into the eyes of Megaman, he was his rival, and he was what he was created to destroy. Zero charged at Megaman throwing his punches, Megaman dodged when he could but most times got hit. Zero never once let up his attack, not until Megaman was lying on the floor in pain. Zero looked over the battered and unconscious robot with glee, he smiled a smile that filled his face, he laughed a laugh that filled the room, and he screamed a scream that snapped Megaman back awake. He watched Zero grip his head in pain, as a white W filled the gem on the forehead of his helmet.

"What's happening to him?" Megaman asked standing up.

"It's the virus." Wily said walking over to him.

"Virus?"

Dr. Wily chuckled. "Yes, back before you were created, when Dr. Light and I were still building Protoman, I came up with this idea. I placed within you half a virus, the other half in Zero. When the two of you would come into contact it would activate. You notice when you first fought, when you had you by the neck. Though, the virus only lives within Zero, he is the spreader. I almost had it perfected when I got a new idea from Revolver Ocelot. He told me of a virus called FOXDIE, which transports from person to person instantly taking effect. So, I worked my 'ZERO' virus around this same idea, of course it forced me to reveal myself to you."

"What does this virus do?"

"It turns robots into evil machines of destructions that I call 'Mavericks'. Much like I did to the first six 'Humanoids'."

"Why am I not affected by it?"

"I'm not sure really, you weren't originally built to be a fighter you remember. You were a housekeeping robot originally, until Dr. Light reworked you to defeat me."

Zero fell to his knees in pain.

Liquid Snake laughed. "It's not that hard to figure out. Who isn't in this room, isn't the leader of us, and who has magic powers?"

Snake thought about this. "Ganondorf."

Snake ran out, grabbed Sonic and went to collect Megaman.

"We have to go, Link, Samus, and Cloud are in serious danger."

Megaman looked over at Zero and at Wily.

"Don't worry, I can take care of this." Wily said nudging his head at Zero.

"Wily, I'll still stop you." Megaman ran off with the others to the teleport and disappeared.

Samus slowly made his way back up.

"Cloud, you need to get up. If what you say about Sephiroth is right I need your help."

Cloud used the Buster Sword to stand back up to see Sephiroth standing still next to the door. Sephiroth smiled, and jumped into the battle. Though, it was the battle between Link and Ganondorf.

"Sephiroth!" Ganondorf said pulling back a punch. "What are you doing?"

Sephiroth looked over Link. "I want a hand at 'The Hero of Time'." Sephiroth then pulled out a very long katana, pulled the hilt alongside his head and pointed it at Link. Link readied his sword and shield and began to fight.

The fight looked to be an even one, to the untrained eye. Though Link looked like he was holding his own it was clear that Sephiroth was holding back. Sephiroth watched Link's moves, particularly the hand that held The Master Sword.

The two clashed their swords together and held.

"The bearer of the Triforce of Courage." Sephiroth said slowly.

Link nodded his head. Sephiroth smiled.

Sephiroth began attacking with more ferocity now. He thrust his sword at Link who knocked it upward. Sephiroth pulled a reversal move that blew off all of Link's defenses leaving him wide open. Sephiroth did a quick turn and sliced Link in half at the waist.

The room was silent. They all watched as Link's torsos slowly separated. Ganondorf's mouth dropped as he saw his archrival be killed by the blade of another. Sephiroth reached forward as the dead hand of Link dropped the Master Sword. Sephiroth grabbed it before it could hit the ground, turned and stabbed Ganondorf through the heart.

Ganondorf stood still as Sephiroth pulled blade out and tossed it aside.

"It…cannot be. My reign…is over." A golden light shone from the stab wound the light spread through his body engulfing him. The light consumed Ganondorf's body. Sephiroth watched and he saw the power that was now to be his. He extended his right hand, and the light concentrated and flowed into it.

Light surrounded him, Cloud and Samus looked on at the indescribable event. The light faded. Sephiroth stood still, a single black angel-like wing extended.

Sephiroth looked down at his hand, a triangle appeared made of three triangles. The top one shone bright.

Cloud stood up. "Sephiroth!" Cloud ran at Sephiroth pulling his Buster Sword back. He reached striking distance and thrust it down. Sephiroth extended his hand and his two first fingers pointing at the Buster Sword causing it to shatter. Cloud was startled, the blow followed through his sword and stuck him sending him flying back.

Sephiroth slowly turned round and walked into a teleport that appeared and disappeared.

"Link…" Samus said still pulling himself up.

The other three appeared to see what was left. They collected Link, the Master Sword, created a teleport and went home, defeated.


	6. Chapter 6

1Chapter six: The Triforce and The Master Sword

The team arrived in Hyrule and went directly to the castle.

"Samus," Said a beautiful woman at the gates. "It is good to see you again." She had fair skin, long golden hair, and wore a purple dress.

"It is good to see you as well, I just wish that we wouldn't meet under such horrible circumstances, Princess Zelda. These are those who fight along side me."

"It is a pleasure to meet you all."

"Zelda, we have the Master Sword yet. It must be returned."

"Yes of course, follow me."

The team followed Zelda to a large temple at the end of the city.

"This is The Temple of Time." Zelda explained. "It is the holding place of The Master Sword, and gateway to the Land of the Sages, where the Triforce is held."

"What is the Triforce?" Sonic asked.

Zelda began to tell the tale of the creation of Hyrule and the Triforce as they walked inside. "Before life began, before the world had form, three golden goddesses descended upon the chaotic land of Hyrule. They were Din, the goddess of power, Nayru, the goddess of wisdom and Farore, the goddess of courage. Din, with her strong flaming arms, cultivated the land to create the earth. Nayru poured her wisdom onto the earth to give the spirit of law to the world. Farore's rich soul created all life forms who would uphold the law. These three great goddesses returned to the heavens, leaving behind the golden sacred Triforce."

Zelda took The Master Sword and placed it back into its pedestal. "The Triforce split into three parts when Ganondorf tried to seize it. Ganondorf had the Triforce of Power, and Link the Triforce of Courage. I have the Triforce of Wisdom. But now this, Sephiroth has taken it you say. And Link has been killed, and who now has the Triforce of Courage?"

Snake placed his hand on Zelda's shoulder. "Don't worry, we'll figure everything out and set things right again."

Zelda placed her hand on Snakes. "I hope so. Come, let us rest in the caste."

So, the team left the Temple of Time. Except for Cloud who stayed behind.

"Sephiroth, you take everything, my home, my life, Aeris. You will pay, by The Sword of Evil's bane, you will pay."

Cloud stepped forward to the pedestal. He gripped The Master Sword by its hilt, and removed it.

End Part One.


	7. Chapter 7

1Chapter seven: The Twin Snakes

The team walked to the gates of Hyrule Castle from the Temple of Time.

"You will stay with us tonight, you will be greeted well." Zelda looked at the team carefully. "Where is the man with the spiky hair?"

The team looked around, Samus, Megaman, Sonic, and Snake were all there but Cloud wasn't.

Samus looked back to the Temple of Time. "Did he come out of the temple with us?"

Megaman began to walk back to the temple. "Let's go back and check if he's still there."

They ran back to the Temple of Time to find it empty, and a large stone door blocked off the room where the Master Sword was held.

"Wait, that door wasn't there when we first came here." Snake walked up and moved his hand across the door.

"Cloud!" Sonic shouted into the door. "Are you in there?"

"Do you know what happened Zelda?" Samus asked curiously.

Zelda thought for a moment. "The only way that door can be opened is by collecting the three spirit stones."

"Well where are those?" Asked Megaman.

Zelda looked around. "They were on the pedestal in front of the door to the master sword, but they seem to have vanished."

The four of them all sighed and paced for a moment.

Sonic knocked the door. "If he were in there he would have heard us I bet. This door can't be that thick. He's totally not in there."

"You are probably right Sonic, I don't know why he would not follow us. Come, let us go to the castle and we can create a plan for finding your friend there." Zelda held out an arm and led them back to Hyrule Castle.

Servants of the castle showed them all to a large room with four large beds with red sheets.

"Pretty swanky." Sonic said jumping onto a bed.

Samus walked over to a bed, pushed in on it a little bit and sat down. "What are we going to do?"

The three others looked over at him.

"We've lost Link, Sephiroth has the Triforce of Power and has gone who knows where, Eve is expecting with the Ultimate Being, and Cloud has gone missing."

Megaman took off his helmet and laid it down on a table. "Well, for now why don't we get some rest. It feels like I haven't slept in days."

Snake walked over to a bed and began laying his weapons down on the table where Megaman put his helmet. Sonic carefully slid under the blanket, as to not cut it with his spines. Samus looked back at them and then looked down at the bed. He seemed nervous about something.

Megaman got into a bed. "You're not gonna sleep in that armor are you Samus? Seems like it would be a hassle, especially those big ball things on your shoulders."

Samus sighed and went to the door.

"Where are you going?" Snake asked laying his STINGER missile launcher on the table.

Samus gripped the doorknob. "I'm going to request my own room." Samus walked out and closed the door behind him.

The three looked at each other. Snake thought about it for a moment and smiled a little bit.

"What?" Megaman asked. "What are you smiling about?"

Snake thought a little bit more and looked at the door. "Nothing."

"Hey Snake." Sonic said being yet careful not to damage the bed. "What was the deal with Revolver Ocelot after Metal Gear Chaos went down?"

"It's a long story." Snake said placing some grenades on the table.

Megaman sat up in his bed. "We've got nothing else to talk about."

Snake sighed. "Back when I was with FOXHOUND, I was under the command of a man who called himself 'Big Boss'."

Sonic snorted. "That's original."

"He was my father."

Megaman thought for a moment. "What happened to him?"

Snake placed some more weapon on the table. "I killed him."

Sonic and Megaman looked over at each other.

"Before I knew he was my father." Snake explained.

Sonic and Megaman took a little bit of comfort in that.

"Though, he wasn't really my father."

"What does that mean?" Megaman asked.

Snake unhooked the straps around his shoulders. "I'm a clone of him."

Sonic and Megaman looked at each other again.

"The project was called 'les enfants terribles', which means, 'the terrible children' in French. I was the product of the experiment, with Big Boss's superior dominant genes. The recessive genes were compiled into my brother, Liquid Snake."

"Liquid Snake?" Sonic rubbed his head. "That's what Ocelot called himself."

"That wasn't Ocelot," Snake explained. "There was an incident at a base in Alaska named 'Shadow Moses', where Liquid took control of a Metal Gear. It was there I learned about my creation and killed Liquid."

"But you're saying that Revolver Ocelot is Liquid?" Megaman asked confused.

Snake pulled off his shirt. "At Shadow Moses, Ocelot lost his hand to…a ninja."

"Ninja?" Sonic asked.

"He turned out to be an old member of FOXHOUND like myself named 'Gray Fox', who I thought I had killed. After Liquid had died, Ocelot grafted Liquids hand into his arm where the Ninja had taken his."

"But why is Ocelot Liquid?" Megaman asked still confused.

Snake pulled off his boots. "I'm not really sure what's going on, somehow Liquid remained in that arm and now controls the body after Sephiroth, I supposed, destroyed the mind of Ocelot." Snake climbed into a bed.

Megaman rubbed his head a bit. "You lost me when you said you were a clone."

Snake got under the sheets and went to sleep, Megaman and Sonic would shortly follow him.

Sunlight streamed through the windows right on Megaman. He groggily sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked around the room. Snake was gone as were his weapons. Sonic was still asleep in a horribly messed up bed. Megaman slowly walked over to the table, picked up his helmet and left the room.

"Good morning Sir Megaman." Said a guard at the door.

Megaman was still tired and took a moment to realize what the man had said.

"Uh…morning"

"Please, follow me." The guard held out an arm and began to walk down the hallway.

Megaman and the man appeared in a large dining hall where Snake, Samus, and Zelda sat at a large table.

"Where's Sonic?" Zelda asked.

Megaman thought for a moment. "He's still asleep." Megaman yawned and grabbed a seat.

"Well, we should get started." Samus said.

"I don't want to hold you up." Zelda said calmly. "I realize that you must have much work to do."

Samus turned to Zelda. "Have you found anything on Cloud yet?"

Zelda sighed. "Unfortunately no, you said he didn't have a means of transport so he must still be in Hyrule."

"Let us know when you find him with this." Snake pulled out a small radio and handed it to Zelda. "That will feed directly to my CODEC."

Zelda looked at it carefully. "How do I use it?"

"Push down on the black button."

Zelda looked at it for a moment and pushed the button. Snake lifted his hand up to his ear.

"You should be able to hear me." Snakes lips didn't move, the words came from the radio.

Everyone jumped back.

"How did you send you're voice through the radio?" Megaman asked.

Snake turned to Megaman. "It's through a device called CODEC. It's a kind of radio that's in my head at all times. I can talk to other people by tuning into their frequency right though my head." Snake said through the radio. "It's all done through a series of nanomachines."

"Sounds complicated." Sonic said looking the radio over in his hands. No one had noticed him enter or take the radio.

"Let's get headed back." Samus said standing up. "It was good to see you again Princess, I pray that the next time we meet won't be under such bad times."

"I hope that as well." Zelda smiled and curtsied to them all.

The team left the castle and went back to Black Mesa, but not before stopping in the purple and blue-skied planet first.

"It's good you're back. How is the Princess?" Otacon asked excited.

"She was well." Samus said, obviously something on his mind. Snake took note of that.

"Yeah. So, any new jumps?" Sonic said.

"Huh? Oh, no not yet." Otacon turned to a computer terminal. "Whatever they're doing they're taking their time."

"They're probably looking for Sephiroth." Snake said looking over the shoulder of Otacon.

Otacon turned around and looked at them curiously. "Wait, where's Cloud?"

"Somewhere still in Hyrule." Sonic said shrugging.

"You couldn't find him?" Otacon said worried. "What if something bad has happened to him?"

"Zelda said she had guards looking all over for him. He doesn't have a way to teleport so he should still be on that world." Megaman explained.

Otacon thought for a moment. "I guess we have no choice but to leave it in their hands. And we just have to wait for another jump to be made by our villains." The computer made a loud beeping sound. "Speak of the devil."

The team huddled around the computer.

Snake looked over at Megaman. "Isn't that where…"

Megaman nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

The team looked at Samus.

"What?" He asked.

"They just warped to Zebes." Otacon said after pushing up his glasses.

Samus thought for a moment.

"Do you know why they would go there?" Sonic asked.

Samus thought for another moment. "The only thing I can think of is that they would be breeding Metroids, otherwise I don't know why they would go there."

Snake slid a clip into his gun. "Only one way to find out." He pulled back on the top and walked to the teleport.

"I hope your soon return." Otacon said as the team teleported away.


	8. Chapter 8

1Chapter eight: Space Pirates

The team arrived in a rocky area with clouds filling the sky.

"So, this is Zebes?" Sonic asked looking around. "Kinda chilly isn't it?"

"Don't worry, you'll be inside caves soon." Samus stood still.

Megaman looked into the visor of her helmet. "What are you doing?"

"I have a full map of this planet and sensors placed. So now I'm looking for where they have been."

"Maybe they went here." Snake said looking into a giant hole in the ground.

The hole was rather large and went down farther than any of them could see.

Megaman timidly looked into the hole. "How did it get here?"

Samus stood at its edge. "Let's go down."

"What?" Snake looked down the hole. "You don't know how deep that thing is. If you hit the ground from that high up you'll die."

Samus looked down the hole and back up at Snake. "I don't get hurt by long falls."

Megaman stepped next to her. "Yeah, me neither."

"Or me." Sonic said.

Sonic, Samus, and Megaman all looked at each other and then at Snake. The three formed a circle and threw out their hands. Megaman and Samus formed their hands into the shape of a rock, while Sonic made a pair of scissors.

Samus jumped down the hole first, followed by Megaman, and then Sonic carrying Snake.

Sonic groaned. "You tell this to no one."

Snake nodded his head.

Sonic landed and threw Snake off of him.

Samus checked his maps. "Great." He said exasperated.

"What is it?" Megaman asked nervously.

"Remember Ridley?" Samus said pointing his gun at a blue door.

Megaman looked at the door. "Yeah…"

Samus fired at the door causing it to open. Inside the next room was a big green monster. It looked like a large reptile with three red eyes, a big stomach and three spikes pointing out of it in a line going down.

"Meet his partner, Kraid."

Sonic held up his hand. "Nice to meetcha." He said sarcastically cheerfully.

The four ran into the room with the door closing behind them.

Samus looked up at him for a moment. "Sonic, create a diversion! Snake, wait for its mouth to open and fire stinger missiles into in! Megaman, the three spikes on his stomach will launch out, climb up them and fire at its head! Go!"

Samus began to charge and fire at the head of Kraid. Snake aimed his STINGER missile launcher at it and waited for its mouth to open. Sonic ran around in circles taunting it to get its attention. And Megaman waited for it to shoot out the spikes so he could shoot it.

Kraid opened his mouth and fired a blast of fire at Sonic. Snake fired a missile into its mouth, the missile went into Kraids head exploding and doing damage. Kraid turned and fired the three spikes from its stomach. Snake did a rolling dodge from the spikes and they crashed into the wall.

Megaman ran to the spikes, strangely the spikes had kind of a green platform on them for him to stand on, jumped up them and was now able to hit him when he jumped. Megaman charged up a blast and fired at the monsters head. Upon hitting Kraids head, the monster screeched. Samus fired a Super-Missile into its mouth doing obvious damage and stunning it for a moment.

Upon regaining movement Kraid charged a blast of fire in its mouth and fired it at Megaman right as he was jumping to shoot at him again. The blast collided with Megaman sending him through the wall into another room.

Megaman slowly got back up and rubbed his head.

"Oh man, that hurt." Megaman looked around the new room he was in. He could see the fight with Kraid still going on though the hole he came in through, and behind him was a statue of a man with a bird's head. Megaman walked up to the statue, it sat with its legs out and its arms extended. Megaman looked at the statue for a while in wonder.

"Megaman!" Samus shouted from the battle. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine." Megaman said looking at the statue. "I've got a better position up here!"

Samus looked up at him for a moment, Megaman waved down at him.

"Great, just shoot it!" Samus shouted turning attention back to the monster.

Just then Megaman got an idea. "Samus!"

Samus looked over at Megaman while still fighting Kraid. "What now?" He snapped back.

"Does this thing have a weakness?"

Samus thought for a moment. "I'm not sure, I've just always used explosives on it."

Megaman smiled and changed to Bombman power. He aimed his buster at the head of Kraid. Samus knew what he wanted to do, so he followed his plan. Samus fired a Missile at Kraids head, upon impact Kraid screeched loudly. Megaman fired a large bomb at its mouth. The bomb whizzed through the air and landed inside just as Kraids mouth closed. Kraid swallowed the bomb, and continued to fight. Moments later an explosion occurred inside of Kraid causing it to shriek out in pain. While it was shrieking they all attacked directly into its mouth, Bombs, Super-Missiles, STINGERs, all going down the throat and causing more explosions. Eventually the beast fell to the ground dead.

Megaman patted his hands. "Well, what's next?"

Samus flicked through his map. "We need to go through Brinstar into Norfair to fight Ridley."

"How long with that take?" Sonic asked stretching his legs.

Samus thought for a moment. "Given time to get there, backtracking, monster fighting some more backtracking, fighting some more monsters, backtracking…should take about ten minutes with some more backtracking after that."

Samus led the team through Brinstar's depths and up an elevator to the higher ground of Brinstar.

"So, what are all these things crawling around?" Sonic asked as they walked through the caves.

Samus pointed at a creature that looked like a spiked turtle. "That's a Geemer, that thing that looks like a flying tadpole is a Waver, and look out!" Samus pushed Snake to the side as a creature with two spiked wings came crashing into the ground. "This is a Skree." Samus shot the creature causing it to explode.

"How much farther till we get to Norfair or whatever you called it?" Megaman asked.

Samus looked through some maps. "Actually, there are some things I need to get while we're here."

"What do you need to get from here?" Sonic asked.

"A suit advancement that allows me to move in water without being affected by buoyancy." Samus explained.

"Where's that at?" Sonic asked impatiently.

Samus turned around. "Back this way."

Samus eventually made it to his suit advancement, instead of orange his power suit now was a light purple.

"Can we please continue?" Sonic asked.

"Yes." Samus assured. "One thing though,"

Sonic sighed.

"Before we go to fight I should refill my weapons and energy."

"Where can we do that?" Sonic asked.

"Good, there's a missile fueling station on the way there." Samus said looking at some maps.

Sonic sighed with relief. "Can we just get on now?"

"Sure, let's go." Samus fired at the door and they continued on.

Through Brinstar they walked, Samus taking time to destroy monsters and collect the energy they left behind, Snake and Megaman helped in destroying monsters, and Sonic just wanted to keep going. There was no room in these caves to run, and everywhere he went he had to walk. Eventually they made it to the heart of Norfair, and to the lair of Ridley.

Samus shifted his gun to missile launcher. "Everyone ready?"

"How hard will this fight be?" Sonic asked.

"Well, Ridley will probably grab one of use by the head and carry us into the air where he will mercilessly shoot that one with fire. But while that's happening the rest of us can shoot him." Samus fired at the door to open it.

Sonic, Snake, and Megaman all cautiously walked into a large red stone room. They noticed the lack of giant purple dragons, and a broken container in the center of the room. Samus walked up to it, picked up some of the shards of glass and clenched them in his hand. "Ridley's not here."

"What was in that glass?" Megaman asked.

Samus sighed. "The Metroid hatchling I found on SR388. It must have escaped."

"So where do we go now? Back into Brinstar?" Snake asked.

Samus stood up. "Technically yes. We have to go through Brinstar to get to the deepest level of Zebes, Tourian."

Samus walked through the door from where they came and led them back to the elevator.

Megaman walked up next to Samus. "So, what's in Tourian? Another mini-boss of some kind?"

"No, the boss is there."

Sonic walked holding his hands behind his head. "What's the guys name?"

Samus stopped. "It's called, Mother Brain."

They continued walking. They arrived at another elevator and went on down.

"Any other monsters in here?" Snake asked loading his gun.

"If they've been able to raise them, there may be Metroids."

The elevator stopped in a level very different from the ones they had been in before. Instead of rock this level of Zebes was made of metal, and glowing red eyes watched them from every direction.

Sonic nervously looked into one of the eyes. "Well, this place just went from creepy to creepier."

Samus jumped off the elevator. "Come on, Mother Brain already knows we're here!" Samus fired at the door and ran through. The red eyes all turned at him and fired glowing red circles. Samus and the team all managed to run through pretty much unscathed by the circles, as they are easy to destroy. Samus opened the next-door and walked through, however, the rest of the team did not.

"Samus," Megaman said nervously. "Why can't we move?"

Samus walked over to Megaman and began to look him over.

"It must be Mother Brain's mind powers."

Sonic looked up. "Is that why she's called Mother Brain? Because she has telekinetic powers?"

"Uh…yeah. Now, you all stay…here, and I'll take care of Mother Brain myself." Samus ran through the door and began to fire.

"So…" Megaman said looking around the room, as his eyes were the only things he could move.

There was a moment of awkward silence.

"I'm thinking of a number between one and one hundred." Sonic said smiling.

Samus ran through blowing up the glowing circles and Metroids as they appeared. He ran through the rooms until he came to the final door. He stopped and looked it over. He took a deep sigh and blasted it open.

He dodged the blasts, took down walls that blocked him, avoided falling in acid, and made it to the Mother Brain herself.

She was as her name says, a giant brain inside of a jar, connected to the rest of Tourian.

"We meet again Mother Brain." Samus said coldly.

"Samus…Aran." Said a deep raspy voice that seemed to echo from the caves of Tourian. Ridley flew down and perched next to the jar.

"Ridley! Where is the hatchling?" Samus pointed his gun arm at the dragon.

Ridley made a noise that almost sounded like laughter.

"Ridley…" The Mother Brain bellowed. "Return to the team you spoke of…I shall join you soon."

Ridley nodded and looked over at Samus. Ridley lifted into the air and flew through a door behind Mother Brain.

Samus looked back at Mother Brain and shifted his gun to missile launcher and pointed it at the jar. "I destroyed you once, I don't know how you came back. But this time you won't."

The liquid in the jar bubbled. "Destroy me…destroy your friends…"

"What?"

A monitor lowered from the ceiling. It blipped on to display the other three members of the team still frozen.

"They are connected to me…my brain to theirs…"

Samus looked at the screen, and then at Mother Brain. He raised his gun up again to fire, but couldn't.

"Why?" Samus thought to himself. "Why can't I do it? What are they to me? Mother Brain and the Metroids are my problem, why should they matter?"

"Your whole life you have been alone…and that is the way you want it. Since you started your life as a bounty hunter you have taken care of things yourself…you do not need them…have you told them…the truth?"

Samus slowly lowered his gun. "You're right." Samus looked up at Mother Brain again. "I don't need them." Samus pointed his gun at her jar.

Mother Brain's water bubbled. "Wait..."

"Why?" Samus took a step toward Mother Brain. "What will you do? Kill them? I don't care. You said it yourself, I want to be alone. And no, I haven't told them." Samus then began to fire super missiles into Mother Brain's jar.

"I will destroy them myself!" Mother Brain shouted as her jar shattered. "The blue one goes first!"

Samus looked up at the screen.

"I'm telling you it's not 57." Sonic said.

"How do I know you didn't change it?" Snake asked.

"Because I…" Sonic stopped.

"Because you what?" Megaman asked.

Sonic stared into emptiness.

Snake and Megaman looked at each other.

"Hey Sonic," Snake said. "You alright?

Samus looked back at Mother Brain.

"What have you done to him?" Samus shouted.

"I have left him comatose…"

Samus shrugged. "Whatever." Samus fired more missiles into the Mother Brain.

Mother Brain screeched as her container exploded.

"Bounty Hunter!"

The complex blew up, Samus ducked down to avoid being hit with debris as smoke filled the room. When it cleared, Mother Brain laid nothing but a gray blob in the corner.

Samus flexed his gun arm with the other hand on his hip and started to walk out of the room.

"You are not done yet…"

Samus turned around slowly, Mother Brain regained her color, and a large eye opened in the front of it. Slowly it started to rise on top of a dinosaur like body.

"You will not survive, I will be your undoing!"

Mother Brain looked down at Samus and began to fire a colorful beam of energy down at him. Samus struggled under the power of the beam.

"Warning!" Samus's suit said. "Energy low, destruction imminent!"

"There has to be something I can do!" Samus shouted.

Just then, a large screeching sound was heard. An enormous Metroid flew into the room and grasped Mother Brain's head. Mother Brain screeched as the Metroid sucked the life energy out of it.

Sonic, Megaman, and Snake all fell to the ground.

Snake pulled himself up.

"Sonic! Are you all right?" Snake shook Sonic. Sonic didn't respond.

"Sonic!" Megaman shouted.

Snake clenched his teeth and bowed his head.

Megaman pushed his fingers next Sonics neck. "He's still alive!" Megaman smiled and looked at Snake.

Snake took a breath. "I'll carry him, let's go find Samus." Snake scooped up Sonic and walked towards the door.

"Warning! Warning! Full self destruction in ten minutes!"

Snake and Megaman looked into the air.

"Self destruct?" The both of them shouted.

"That's right." Samus said.

"Where'd you come from?" Megaman asked.

"No time, follow me!" Samus dashed forward and up the elevator and they ran through Brinstar.

"Not so fast!" A voice shouted. A dozen or so dark human like figures with large claws for hands jumped in front of the league. Samus aimed his gun and fired a beam of bright energy that instantly destroyed each of the creatures.

"Where did you get that?" Megaman shouted.

"No time, come on!" Samus continued running instantly destroying anything that got in his way.

The team made it to another elevator that took them up to the surface of Zebes.

"Quick Samus fire a teleport!" Megaman said running off of the elevator.

Samus pushed a few buttons on her gun. "Not enough time, keep running!"

Samus fired forward in a blaze destroying a wall leading into a clear area where a small yellow space ship landed.

"Get in!" Samus shouted jumping on top of it. A door opened and Samus went inside. A ladder deployed from the side and the rest of the team crawled inside. The ship lifted from the ground and shot into the air.

The planet Zebes shook, the ground cracked, lava spewed into the air, lightning flashed across the sky.

"Warning! Full self destruction in, five, four, three, two, one."

The planet blew up in a flash of light flinging debris across space. Samus's space ship flew through space avoiding the debris and flying to a safe spot.

They all sighed.

"Well, at least we're safe now." Megaman said breathing deep.

Just then, blasts were fired all about the ship.

"What is that?" Snake shouted.

Samus looked around through the screen on the ship. "Space Pirates, figured they wouldn't let me escape that easily."

A blast struck the ship and a siren blared.

"What does that mean?" Megaman shouted.

"I have to manually control the ship now." Samus held out his arm, a blast of air shot out from above the gun and it slowly slid down revealing a normal human arm. Samus gripped the controls and began evasive maneuver.

Snake took careful note of Samus's arm. The skin was fair and it wasn't as muscular as one would expect the arm of a bounty hunter to be.

Samus fired shots from the ship into space, taking down a few of the pirates.

"Hold on!" He shouted. Samus flipped a couple of switches and his ship fired through space.


	9. Chapter 9

1Chapter nine: What dreams are made of

"Ugh…what happened?" Sonic awoke at the bottom of a staircase. Sonic looked around, there was no door, nothing that could have led him to where he was. He walked up the staircase and came to a door. He looked around, opened the door and began to fall.

"What the?" Sonic shouted as he plummeted to the ground.

Sonic landed neatly on both feet, as he said before long falls don't hurt him. Sonic looked around at this hilly green area with its black sky.

"Ok…so there's no sky. There is a door in that hill, why don't I look around first." Sonic started walking, he went past the door, past the door again, past the door, again around the door. Sonic began to run faster but still went past the door.

"Alright, let's go through the door." Sonic jumped up to the door and walked through. The door slid closed and opened on the other side to a blue skied, green grassed, and still hilly region.

"Ok, so I yet don't have any idea where I am. Last I remember I was on Zebes, I was frozen, we played thinking of a number while waiting for Samus to get back, Megaman was getting onto the fact that I was cheating when I wound up here." A small creature wearing a red coat and a white mask walked forward. Sonic kneeled forward to it. "Oh, hey there little fella, can you tell my where I am?" The creature squealed and ran off. Sonic stood back up. "Well, talk about your shy guys. Anyway, how can I find out where I am?" Sonic looked around.

His stomach grumbled.

Sonic patted his belly and looked around for some food, he noticed little red leaves sticking up from the ground. "Hey, those look like some vegetables. I'll just help myself." Sonic grabbed the leaves and began to pull. "Man, these things just don't let go do they?" Sonic pulled the vegetable out and fell backwards. Sonic stood back up and looked at the white vegetable in his hands.

"What is this thing, a radish?" Sonic turned the radish over to reveal a large smiling face. Sonic stared at it for a moment and then shrieked in horror as he threw it away. The radish hit the small man wearing the mask, the man jumped into the air a short distance and then fell through the ground.

"What's going on here?" Sonic shouted.

Sonic walked gloom fully across the land, complaining about everything that didn't make sense. From the blocks that when they hit the ground everything dies, to the eagles heads that sends him to new lands. Nothing just quite fit right with Sonic.

"Man am I hungry, but every time I try to pick a vegetable it smiles at me!" Sonic patted his stomach as it roared. "Maybe this time, it won't be one of those happy radishes." Sonic crossed his fingers and pulled at the leaves. He struggled for a moment and pulled out a flask with a red liquid inside. Sonic sniffed the liquid, and didn't like how it smelled. Disappointed he threw the flask aside, when it shattered a door appeared.

"Oh for the love of…" Sonic opened the door and walked inside. It looked just like where he just was only everything was dark and shadowy.

"Okay, now what?" Sonic looked around.

"Hoot, traveler from a distant land." A voice said.

Sonic looked around. "Hoot?"

A large owl flew from the sky and perched on a dark shadow tree.

Sonic slowly raised his hand. "Uh...hey."

The owl leaned forward. "Young traveler, what brings you to these lands?"

Sonic was silent. "I don't know. How do I get home?"

The owl hooted. "There is but one way to leave these shores."

Sonic stepped forward. "Yeah?"

"Hoot, you must wake the Wind Fish."

Sonic was silent. "What's a Wind Fish?" There was a light explosion sound and everything turned the way it was before.

"…Ok…" Sonic cautiously looked around. "At least I know things can't get any stranger."

Sonic continued his travels, he went through a desert land where he had to dig to escape from the little guys with the masks to the frozen ice world in the sky.

"Note to self, don't run on ice." Sonic said rubbing his leg when he made it to safe ground. His stomach roared some more. "Oh man, I gotta find at least one vegetable that isn't smiling at me, and isn't a portal to some psycho dimension!" Sonic wearily walked over to a patch of leaves. "Is he a winner?" He slowly bent over and grabbed the leaves. He pulled but nothing gave, he continued to pull but nothing would come out. "Hmm, a wise guy eh?"

Sonic rubbed his arms, cracked his knuckles, stretched, grabbed the leaves, and pulled with all his might. "This had better be worth it!" He shouted as he pulled. Finally, it let loose. Sonic had not pulled up a smiling vegetable, he had pulled up the one thing out of all the things possible to pull up that he had least expected. He had pulled a space ship out from the ground.

Sonic stared at the space ship, he couldn't believe that he had actually pulled up what he had just pulled up.

"So what's next? Bombs riding on ostriches?"

Moments later Sonic was running and screaming from ostriches with bombs on their backs across whales while being attacked by a flying glowing face.

"What is going on?" Sonic shouted.

Sonic ran across a whale when it shot water out of its blowhole. The force of the water sent Sonic flying up into the air. Before he could begin to fall again he grabbed a hold of a vine suspended n the air.

"Boy is that lucky." Sonic began to climb up the vine and made it to a solid cloud, where he rested for a moment.

"Hey, I liked the way you handled yourself down there." A voice said.

Sonic panted. "Which part did you like? The running or the screaming?"

The voice laughed. He extended his hand. Sonic stood up and shook it. The hand actually belonged to a large mouse, wearing sunglasses. "The names Mouser." A large ball of fire wearing a black mask around its eyes hovered up next to Mouser. "And this here, is the Fry Guy."

"Pleasure, say do you know how I get out of here?" Sonic asked hopefully

Mouser and Fry Guy looked at each other.

Mouser rubbed his chin. "Gee, I don't know about that. Hey Birdo! Come here!"

A large pink creature walked over to them. It walked on its two feet, had short arms, a white spot on its stomach, a long mouth, and a bow on its head.

"This guy wants to know how to get out." Mouser told it. The Birdo looked to be thinking hard. It then made a gasping sound.

Fry Guy nodded up and down.

"Great idea Birdo!" Mouser said patting it on the back.

Sonic looked at them confused. "What's a great idea?"

"We're gonna take you to see King Wart!" Mouser and his friends began to walk away.

Sonic wondered if he should follow them or not, which in the end he did.

Mouser led Sonic to a large castle that managed to sit on the cloud they were on, through a maze through the castle, across a pit where a green Birdo lay in wait, and into a large room, with a large wooden dinner table with lots of food on it sit in the middle, and a shadowy figure stand at a large window at the end of the room.

Mouser took a step forward and bowed. "My lord Wart, I bring good tidings. We have a new friend and ally among us."

The shadowy figure moved into the light. It was actually a large frog wearing a red cape and a crown. "Excellent," He croaked. "Tell me, what is you're name young one?"

Sonic suspiciously looked around, he knew this anymore was some kind of trick. The rest of the team slipped some kind of drug into something he ate at Hyrule, there was no way any of this was real. But, he decided he'd play along for now.

"My names Sonic, Sonic the Hedgehog."

Wart laughed. "Hedgehog? Now there's something I've never heard of. Mouser, get my self-aware television cameras in here to wait on us while we eat!"

Mouser bowed and left the room.

Sonic looked delightfully at the food on the table, though it was all under lids, he figured that none of it here was smiling, a ritzy place like this.

"Say," Sonic said walking over to the table. "Can you tell me where I am?"

Wart looked at him curiously while taking the head of the table. "What do you mean where are you? Where else would you be?"

"What is the name of this land?"

Wart thought about this for a moment. "We have sectioned up our land into separate worlds. For example, you are in world 8-2 right now." Wart tucked a napkin into the collar of his cape.

"Ok…" Sonic sat down and reached for the lid of one of the plates. He lifted it up expectantly to a tray of vegetables that all smiled at him. Sonic threw the lid across the room and screamed.

"Oh I know how you feel." Wart said standing up from the table. "I can't stand these vegetables either." Wart lifted up the tray and dumped all the vegetables into a machine at the end of the room. "In fact, I'm deathly allergic to them. Just touching one is enough to cause me serious pain."

Sonic fell back in his chair, he couldn't believe it, he was stuck in some psycho acid trip, no way to get out, starving, and…with an idea.

"Say Wart," Sonic said turning in his chair. "You're the ruler of this place right?"

Wart thought for a moment. "Yes, I am. Why do you ask?"

Sonic picked up a fork and pulled at the prongs. "What would happen if you were to…meet with an unfortunate fate?"

"Hmm…my land would be extremely distraught I can tell you that much. Why, I think it's safe to say the whole of the world would, fall out from beneath you!"

"You don't say?" Sonic ran over at blinding speeds and grabbed an armful of vegetables.

"What are you doing?" Wart asked rising to his feet.

Sonic laughed maniacally. "The best thing I can think to do!" Sonic began to pelt vegetables at Wart.

"Ow, stop that! Please!" Wart went falling backwards as Sonic continued his assault.

"Hahahahahahahaha! That's right! I'm going to be free!" Sonic had clearly taken his fill of this world and had lost his mind.

Wart managed to pick Sonic up off of him. "I welcome you into my home and this is how you repay me! By trying to kill me with the most horrid of all creations?" Wart carried Sonic over to the machine where he had thrown the vegetables. "I will show you how we reward such actions in my world!" Sonic was dropped into the machine. Wart pulled a lever and the machine closed up on him. Sonic was then dropped into a well of darkness.

Mouser came bursting in. "My lord! What has happened?"

Wart patted his hands. "From now on, all strangers are enemies in our eyes! If one comes you will attack him without thought! As will all underlings! Am I clear?" Wart shouted.

Mouser clicked his heels. "Yes my lord!"

Sonic continued to fall screaming.

"Why? What did I do? Am I forever doomed to suffer this bottomless drop?"

At that moment, the owl came flying down to him as he fell.

Sonic looked up at him. "Hey Hoots, what do I do now?"

The owl turned its head side to side. "The Wind Fish in name only, for it is neither."

The owl then flew away leaving Sonic baffled. "What? What does that mean?"

Just then, a powerful gush of water came from below Sonic and sent him spinning into the air.

Sonic bolted up screaming.

"Oh man, what was up with that?" He panted.

"Up with what?" Snake asked.

Sonic looked around, he was in a bed at Black Mesa. Megaman, Snake, and Otacon all stood around him.

"Wha…?"

"That Mother Brain used some kind of telekinetic power to send you into a coma of some kind." Snake explained. "We got out before the planet exploded and landed on a nearby planet named SR-388, where we teleported back. You've been asleep for a couple of days now."

Sonic rubbed his head. "Man, she could've given me some nicer coma fantasies. Where's Samus now?"

"Since we got back he locked himself in his room and hasn't come out." Snake said looking to the door. "Something must have happened in his fight with Mother Brain."

"Has anyone tried to talk with him?" Sonic asked.

Otacon pushed up his glasses. "With that gun thing still on we think it's best we let him be."

Sonic nodded. "Good plan."


	10. Chapter 10

1Chapter Ten: Chaos Control

"Everyone! Come to the teleport room!" Otacon shouted over the PA.

Sonic was of course the first one to show up, but the others followed.

"What's up Otacon?" Sonic asked.

"I've managed to find the enemies location!" Otacon smiled in self-satisfaction.

"Well then what are we waiting for!" Megaman shouted.

Otacon pushed his glasses up. "Are you sure you're ready? You'll be going straight to the enemy."

The team looked at each other.

Snake smiled. "Yeah, we're ready."

The team assembled in the teleporter.

Otacon pushed some buttons. "I can't get you directly into the base, so I'm sending you to a point close outside of it."

Megaman sighed. "Story of my life."

The team was then sent out.

The team appeared a few inches above a body of water far beyond the view of any land save that which held the enemy base ahead of them. They immediately splashed into the water.

"You're kidding?" Sonic said struggling to keep his head above the water. "We have to swim the entire way there?"

Megaman smiled. "Don't worry, I've got a plan." Megaman looked up to the sky. "Rush!" A red beam fell from the sky revealing the red robot dog, which proceeded to paddle water to stay afloat. "Rush, I need you to form Rush Marine." The dog barked and laid in the same position as when it became Rush Jet, but this time grew seats, a capsule on top of it's body of which to carry passengers, and a propeller extended from the back of the dog.. Megaman climbed into the driver seat. "Come on." We waved his hand to gesture everyone onboard.

The team looked at each other and shrugged. They each climbed aboard and rushed towards the base.

"Megaman." Snake said from a back seat.

"What's up?" Megaman asked piloting the robot dog.

"How does this dog have the ability to become something several times bigger than itself?"

Megaman thought for a moment. "I guess I never really wondered. We'll be coming up on the base soon."

The small island base soon became much larger as the team approached. To Megamans dismay, the front part was the shape of a large skull.

Explosions began to occur around the ship.

"They've noticed us." Samus said.

Megaman pushed a few buttons. "I'm taking him down!" He then pushed the steering wheel up forcing the nose of the dog into the water.

A large black object rushed at the Rush Marine.

"This dog has weapons right?" Sonic asked nervously.

Megaman smiled as he pushed a button. Rush barked shooting a blast of energy forward at the object. The blast collided, but seemed to do no damage.

Megaman thought for a moment. "Evasive action!" Megaman gripped the wheel of the Rush Marine and took a hard turn to the right, careful to avoid the looming creature.

Upon approaching the side of the behemoth, a perfect view was available. It had large bird-like legs, a reptilian tail, two wings, and a long beak-like head. The beak opened, and water began to be sucked in by it.

Snakes eyes widened. "Megaman!" He shouted. "Go now!"

Megaman took Snakes advice and sent the Rush Marine full power forward. A beam then fired from the mouth of the creature that cut through the water just as Rush had plowed forward.

"Don't try and fight that." Snake warned. "You can't beat it in this."

Samus looked back at Snake. "What is that?"

Snake sighed. "Metal Gear Ray."

Sonic turned over at Snake. "You mean like that thing we fought before?"

"I highly doubt that Ray has Chaos Emeralds in it." Snake turned back to the team. "But that doesn't mean we can fight it."

"We're coming up on the island." Megaman shouted. "And I see a cave that, according to Rush, leads straight into the base."

"Well," Sonic stood up and pointed towards the mass of land. "Let's go!"

The submarine shot forward and into the cave. It navigated through a system of tunnels before coming up in an air pocket that led to more caves. Rush shot back to wherever he came from. The team looked into the caves and walked forward.

About ten minutes later Snake stopped and put his hand up to his ear.

"Who's he talking to?" Sonic asked.

"I think he's using that CODEC thing of his." Megaman explained.

A few moments later Snake pulled his hand away from his ear. "According to Otacon there's foreign life source coming from ahead of us that doesn't resemble any of our enemies."

"How do we know it's not just another recruit?" Samus asked.

Snake looked over at Samus. "He says the source is in suspended animation."

"Did he say how much farther it was ahead?" Sonic asked.

Snake looked ahead. "It's not much farther."

So with that, the team was off again. After about fifteen minutes they arrived at the end of the tunnel where a large door stood.

Megaman walked up to the door. "Let's see what we can't see." He pulled the door open and revealed a boiler like room. Large light brown colored pipes surrounded the walls, and a single one stood in the middle of the room.

The team walked around it until they found a glass front on it, which revealed their suspended animation life source.

It was a woman, plainly dressed with blue jeans, a white shirt and a leather jacket. She had short blonde hair.

"Well," Sonic said walking up to the tube. "Let's find a way to get her outta there."

Samus walked up to the glass in an attempt to find a release mechanism of some kind, when a blast flew across the room. Samus pulled his hand back to avoid the energy bullet and looked across the room at what had supplied it.

It was the same robotic hedgehog as had impersonated Shadow the Hedgehog back on Mobius.

The robotic Sonic walked forward carefully studying the team.

Megaman leaned over to Sonic. "Is this thing tough?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Yeah, he's pretty hard."

Megaman sighed. "Great."

Mecha Sonic prepared for a dash, and the rest of the team prepared for battle, when a black blur went in-between them.

When the blur passed, the body of Mecha Sonic laid on the ground, and its head close near it. A black and white sneaker was placed on top of the robot's head.

"Copy me will you?" The robot's eyes widened as the foot came down crushing it.

"Shadow?" Sonic asked nervously.

The black hedgehog laughed. "Nothing gets passed you does it Sonic."

"What are you doing here?"

Shadow chuckled. "What else? Eve has promised me what I want in return for my services."

A door burst open and Eggman ran in. He clutched the body of his destroyed robot in his arms. "Shadow, what are you doing here?"

Shadow looked back at Eggman. "Seems Eve has left you out of the loop."

Eggman squinted. "What are you talking about?"

"You are obsolete." Shadow held his hand out at Eggman.

"Shadow!" Eggman shouted. "You owe me everything! I found you, I brought you to life!"

Shadow smiled. "Thanks." Yellow energy formed in his hand. "Chaos Control!" A beam of energy flew at Eggman exploding on contact, leaving only dust.

"Eggman!" Sonic shouted. "Shadow…"

"Please Sonic," Shadow said wiping his hands. "Eggman was a plague upon the planet, and you knew it just as I did."

Sonic clenched his fist. "I thought you gave up your ways."

Shadow sighed. "No, I have not but been trying to find the reason for my being. Until I found that it was only in destruction, that I could find my purpose."

"But what about Maria? She didn't want you to fight!" Sonic shouted.

Shadow lowered his head. "Maria…never the less, I will find my purpose through fighting. It is all I could ever do, and I'll start by destroying you." Shadow clenched his fists, he began to flex his entire body, he let out a yell of power, and he began to be surrounded by energy.

"Sonic!" Snake shouted. "What's going on?"

Sonic looked back. "He's using the Chaos Emeralds! He's going to go Super!"

"What?" Megaman shouted.

Shadow exploded in energy causing a shock wave throughout the room. When the dust cleared, Shadow stood surrounded by an aura of energy, his spines stuck up and out, and he was of a bright white color that stung you eyes to look at. He extended out his hand he held a Chaos Emerald. "What will you do know Sonic? I hold all seven Chaos Emeralds, you can't fight me when I'm like this."

Sonic stood still. "Yes I can." Sonic held his hands in the air. "Floating Isle, hear my call! Give to me the power beyond the Chaos Emeralds!"

This struck Shadow. "Power beyond Chaos Emeralds?"

A ray of light shone on Sonic. "I summon the power, of the Hyper Emeralds!"

The room turned dark, seven beams of light surrounded Sonic, and they began to spin in a clockwise fashion. Sonic leapt up into the air, the columns of light collapsed into each other, and light filled the room. Sonic curled into a ball, and exploded in a fierce show of power. He floated in the air, his spines stood up, his eyes were red, he was a bright yellow color, and bright lights, almost like stars, spun around him.

"Everyone," He turned his head at the rest of the team. "Take the woman and leave, I'll handle things here." His voice sounded full of power. Sonic held his hand towards the capsule and it opened. The woman inside came tumbling out, Snake managed to catch her.

The rest of the team ran for the door Eggman came though. "Sonic!" Snake shouted.

"I said I would handle things here."

Snake sighed and ran through the door, closing it behind him.

Super Shadow smiled. "Are you sure you don't want to leave now also. I won't think any less of you."

Hyper Sonic also smiled. "Of course, I'm already at rock bottom on your list aren't I?"

The two super powered hedgehogs laughed, and then dashed towards each other. Their fist collided sending a sonic boom throughout the room, the two grinded their fists together, sending electricity flying through the room. They each pulled up their other hands, formed a charge of energy and fired at each other. The two blasts struck, sending them flying. They both managed to stop themselves in air and lunged forward and went into an array of punches and kicks. Sonic threw a kick at Shadow, Shadow vanished and reappeared behind Sonic. Shadow folded his fists together and struck Sonic on the back of the head. Sonic crashed to the ground

Shadow floated down and stood in front of his fallen rival. "Pathetic, Knuckles put up a better fight than this."

Sonic's eyes opened, he vanished from the ground and repapered behind Shadow. He gripped Shadow in a tight body hold.

"What do you mean Knuckles put up a better fight?"

Shadow laughed. "You think you're the first one I've fought? I dealt with the echidna first."

Sonic tightened his grip, Shadow grunted under the strength of the hold. "What happened to Knuckles?"

Shadow smiled. "He fell."

Sonic gritted his teeth, his body shone bright, he tightened his hold on Shadow. Shadow vanished from the hold causing Sonic to lose balance and fall.

Shadow stood above Sonic, he pulled his foot back and kicked Sonic sending him flying across the room.

Sonic picked himself up from the rubble. "You scoundrel." Sonic panted. "Don't you remember, Maria's final wish?"

Shadow sighed.

Sonic stood up. "She didn't want you to fight, she wanted you to protect the planet."

"I know what she wanted!" Shadow shouted, energy flew off of him.

"You were ready to sacrifice yourself to save us all, what happened?"

"I thought for a long time about my life, my purpose. I realized, that I did have only one reason to be, and that was to destroy." Shadow looked up at Sonic. "And I will if it means I find my destiny!"

Shadow began to power up, electricity crackled around him, he shouted as the aura of energy around him grew. He threw out his horizontally to the sides as the energy increased.

Sonic sighed. "Shadow, if I can't convince you, I'll have to defeat you."

Sonic began to gather energy, he thrust his arms out in front of him, wrists touching on top of each other, he then pulled his hands down to his side, still gathering energy. An orb of blue energy formed in his hands.

Shadow then thrust his hands outward, wrists touching side by side, an orb of yellow energy formed inside his hands.

The two continued to power up, each one staring into the others eyes.

"Chaos Control!" They both shouted.

Sonic thrust his hands forward as they were when he first began to gather energy. A beam of blue energy shot from him.

Shadow fired a beam of yellow energy at Sonic the two blasts collided.

A struggle of energy began, the two beams raging at each other, pushing each other forwards and backwards. The force of the energy began to collapse the room, the tube where the woman was held crumbled, pipes burst, and a crater formed beneath the point of the collision.

"One of us will give in sooner or later Sonic!" Shadow shouted.

Sonic smiled. "Then I guess it's a good thing I'm not trying yet!"

"What?"

Sonic shouted as a burst of energy shot from his hands and raced down his beam towards Shadow's. When it reached the struggle point, it totally dissipated Shadow's blast. Shadow's arms were flung aside by the force of his beam's destruction. Sonic's blast flew across the room, and struck Shadow.

Sonic pulled his hands apart destroying his blast. He flew over to Shadow and disabled the power of the Chaos Emeralds on himself.

Shadow lay flat on the ground, smoke rising off of him.

"I'm sorry Shadow, but you had to learn." Sonic kneeled down by Shadow's side. Shadow looked up at him, then over his shoulder as his eyes widened. Sonic slowly turned around and gasped as Sephiroth stood behind him.

Sonic gaped at him, he found himself stunned with fear.

Sephiroth looked down at Shadow, he took a few steps and kneeled down beside him.

"Where are they?" He asked Shadow in a soft voice. Shadow panted, he was still badly damaged from his fight with Sonic.

Sephiroth frowned. He then brought his long sword out, and held the tip of the blade above Shadow's head. "Give them to me."

Shadow held up his hand, and held out a green Chaos Emerald. The other six lifted off of him and floated in air. Sephiroth smiled as he saw his prize. Shadow's eyes slowly closed and his hand fell to the ground. Sephiroth reached out for the Emeralds, as they lifted into the air, and shot through the walls, scattering.

Sephiroth stared into the sky, a look of disdain on his face. He looked over at Sonic, who was still too afraid to move. Sephiroth picked up Shadow and began to walk away.

Sonic finally managed to gather courage he stood and swallowed hard. "H-hey!" He shouted at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth stopped and slowly turned.

"Where are you taking him?" Sonic felt he should do something to make his appearance more threatening but nothing came to mind.

Sephiroth looked down at Shadow. Sephiroth looked back up at Sonic. Sonic felt this was a good time to clench his fists and scowl, so he did. Sephiroth turned and began to walk away again. Sonic wasn't sure why, but he began to follow him. There was then a large explosion of light around Sephiroth, leaving nothing but four feathers that slowly floated to the ground. Sonic knelt down and picked up one of the feathers.

"What does he want with Shadow?" Sonic asked himself looking over the feather. Sonic stood up and ran to catch up with his teammates.

The rest of the team wasn't very far away and had heard a lot of the fight, Sonic came rushing up to them in a bolt.

"Where's the woman?" He asked looking around.

"We sent her back to Black Mesa where it would be safer." Snake explained.

Sonic crossed his arms. "Makes sense."

Samus turned to the rest of the hallway. "We should keep going, Sonic are you still in good health?"

Sonic began to stretch his legs. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"Then let's go." Megaman suggested, and with that they went onward.

"Anyone notice how hot it is?" Sonic asked after they had walked for a while.

"Yes, which is strange." Samus said. "My suit should nullify the effects of extreme temperatures. So I shouldn't be feeling this heat."

Snake stopped and put his hand to his ear. After a few moments he lowered it again. "Otacon said he's getting no readings of the enemies from the base, they must have all left. He says to come back."

Samus sighed. "All right, then we can get some answers from that woman." Samus created a teleport and they all went back to Black Mesa.


	11. Chapter 11

1Chapter Eleven: Surface Tension

Her eyes opened slowly, the light stung.

"How do your tests read?" She heard a voice say.

Her eyes slowly adjusted to the light, she could see two scientists standing over her in a large white room.

"Her life signs appear normal." The other scientist said.

She was lying on a stretcher, she was hooked up to a machine of some kind. Electrodes were placed on her head and arms. She slowly rolled off the table and onto the floor when the scientists weren't looking. She pulled the electrodes off and remained crouching behind the stretcher.

"They're waiting for you Walter," Said one of the scientists to another behind him. "In the test chamber."

The other scientist made some notes and looked back down at the stretcher. "Where'd she go?"

At that moment the woman stood up punched one of the scientists in the face, he fell like a sack of bricks. The woman looked at the other scientist who threw his hands into the air and ran, after a few steps he stopped and cowered with his hands covering his head.

A door opened and another man walked into the room. He looked like a scientist, had a white coat, and glasses. He instantly noticed the scientist lying on the floor and the other cowering. He then noticed the woman standing staring right at him.

He held his hands out. "Ok, wait a second."

"Where am I?" The woman asked.

"You're safe, you were held captive by the enemy. We saved you."

"Who are you?"

"My name is Hal Emmerich, we mean you no harm."

The woman walked over to Otacon, she looked him up and down. "How did I get here?"

"Our team of fighters went in and got you, we just want to ask you a few questions."

The door opened and Sonic came dashing in. "Otacon what's going on? Hey, you're awake."

The woman was shocked at the talking blue hedgehog. Snake came running in next followed by Samus and Megaman.

Otacon smiled. "Looks like we're all here, might as well get to know each other. But first, let's do something for that scientist over there." Otacon pointed down at the scientist lying on the ground.

After the scientist was taken care of they all gathered in the waiting room area.

"So," Otacon began. "Tell us your name."

The woman looked around at the people around her, a hedgehog, a boy in a blue suit and helmet, and a tall orange robot thing. She took comfort in looking at Snake, the most normal looking one there.

"My name is Aya Brea." The woman said.

"Do you know why they had you there?" Megaman asked.

Aya was silent for a moment. "For my mitochondria."

"Mitochondria?" Sonic asked.

"Mitochondria is a part of your cells that creates energy." Samus explained.

"It's also it's own life form." Aya said.

Megaman raised his head with a confused look. "What?"

"Mitochondria lives within us in a symbiotic relationship." Aya continued. "If it were able to act by its self it could destroy the body with the energy it creates."

"But how would that happen?" Otacon asked.

Aya sighed. "It's what Eve did."

"You fought against Eve?" Snake asked.

"Yes, fought and defeated her."

Sonic scratched his head. "When did you defeat her?"

Aya sighed. "Seven years ago."

The team stood in shock.

"But," Sonic started not sure of the right words. "We've seen her, just recently, how could you have defeated her?"

"I don't know." Aya said.

A beeping sound rang in the room, Otacon reached in his coat pocket and pulled out a pager like device. "That's strange," Otacon began. "It says we're getting a message in the transport room." Otacon stood up and left.

"We should follow him." Samus suggested.

The now five arrived in the transport room to see Otacon working at a terminal in front of a large screen. "The signal is really weak." Otacon said pushing a small lever.

An image slowly began to form on the screen in the form of Dr. Wily.

"Wily!" Megaman shouted.

The message broke with static every now and again. "How are you gentlemen?"

"What do you want Wily?" Megaman asked the image.

Dr. Wily smiled. "I just wanted you to know that you fell into our trap."

"What are you talking about Wily?"

"The base you were at was a decoy, to let you come to us so we could track your teleports to find you."

An alarm sounded.

"What's that alarm mean?" Samus asked Otacon.

Otacon pushed his glasses up. "An unauthorized person is teleporting in."

Wily chuckled and the screen was broken by more static. "You have no chance to survive...make your…time."

Energy began to form in the teleport as a person began to come in.

"…All…your base…are...belong to…us." The image then snapped out as the teleport finished.

The league looked in disbelief, as Zero stood among them again.

Zero looked around the room, a look of joy was on his face.

"Otacon," Megaman asked slowly. "Is there a way out of here?"

Otacon thought for a moment. "Either the teleport or going completely out of the complex to the surface."

"Looks like teleport is out of the question."

Zero shifted his arm to his buster and aimed at the team.

Aya looked at the red robot confused. "What is that?"

Samus fired a super missile at Zero, grabbed Aya and began to take for the door.

Zero dodged the missile and fired above the door causing it to collapse. The team was trapped inside.

The team knew they were no match for Zero, having faced him before.

"We need to find a way out of here." Samus said looking about the room.

"I'll use Gutsman power to dig through the rocks." Megaman suggested. "Though, you'll have to distract him for me."

Just then a large explosion blew out the rocks blocking the entrance, sending the debris flying at Zero. Zero managed to destroy most of the rocks, but a few did hit him. The smoke cleared and revealed a man wearing a black full body suit showing only his head, the suit orange on it's legs, arms, and chest. On his chest was the Greek letter Lambda, he also wore a pair of glasses, had a goatee, and carried a crowbar.

"Who are you?" Snake asked.

"Barney told me about you." Otacon said walking over the man. "You're Gordon Freeman.

The man looked over at Snake, then back at Zero.

Megaman looked at the crowbar in his hand. "Did he cause that explosion with just that crowbar?"

Gordon Freeman reached behind him with his crowbar wielding hand, and pulled out instead a long gun with a rounded end, several wires reaching to the back of it, and it was somewhat blue in the middle. Freeman aimed the gun at Zero and held down the trigger, a small turbine in the gun began to spin making a loud whirr sound. Freeman fired a long orange blast of energy that sent Zero flying back. He then waved his hand for the others to follow him.

The team looked at the hole in the wall that Zero lay smoldering in. They quickly followed Gordon.

"So, we finally meet the great Gordon Freeman." Samus said from behind him. Gordon said nothing. "Where are you taking us?" Samus asked him. Gordon said nothing but looked up while still walking. "The surface?" Samus asked. Gordon nodded his head. Samus looked down at him for a moment. "This guy talks less than Link."

Gordon took them to a large elevator and pushed the button for it. The sound of things being toppled over came from the room next to them.

Megaman sighed. "Seems Zero is on our trail."

Gordon walked up the wall between them and their hunter, he listened for a short moment and then charged his gun again. He then fired the charged shot at the wall, the sound of it hitting a large metallic object and sound of a shout came from the next room. The elevator then arrived.

Snake took the opportunity to slide his buster onto his arm. A loud banging came from the bottom of the elevator.

"Is Zero below us?" Sonic asked.

A large white fist came up from the bottom of the elevator.

"Yes Sonic," Otacon said. "Yes he is."

Freeman kneeled down and pulled out his crowbar. He then began to repeatedly strike Zero's hand with it.

"That guy uses that crowbar really well. Look how fast he's swinging that thing!" Sonic said in awe.

Snake aimed his buster down at Zero's hand and began to fire Samus then joined him.

Zero reached his other hand up through the hole he created and began to tear open the bottom of the elevator. Samus fired a super-missile as Zero pulled the metal back revealing his face, sending Zero flying down the shaft.

Gordon knelt down at the hole and began to throw small bags down the shaft.

"What are those things?" Megaman asked.

Snake looked closer at them. "He's throwing satchel charges."

The elevator then arrived at its destination. When the team was out, Gordon pushed a button on a remote exploding all of the explosives he threw down the shaft.

Otacon pointed forward. "There's a ladder that leads to the surface just ahead."

As the team ran, the left wall in the hallway exploded.

"What was that?" Sonic shouted.

Zero slowly walked through the hole in the wall. He looked ahead of at the team, he looked as though he was worn out. He began to run at the team.

Gordon charged and fired his gun at Zero. Zero managed to dodge the blast, fired a blast of energy from his feet sending him flying forward, grabbed Gordon's gun, and crushed it. Gordon looked over at his crushed gun, then back at Zero who was smiling wide. Zero punched Gordon in the chest sending him flying backward. Gordon managed to amazingly land on his feet. He motioned for everyone to climb up the ladder.

"What about you?" Snake asked turning the hatch on the top of the ladder.

Gordon turned his head at Zero, who was shaping the remains of Gordon's gun into a ball.

Gordon reached behind him again and pulled out a long gun that resembled a fireman's hose that connected to a large pack on his back. Gordon fired a double helix shaped beam from the gun that sent Zero flying back. Gordon motioned his head at the ladder.

Snake opened the hatch and crawled out onto a helipad that appeared to be in the middle of a rocky dessert.

Zero picked himself up and grinned at Gordon Freeman. Gordon backed up to the ladder and climbed out as Zero came rushing at him.

"What do we do now?" Megaman asked.

Zero blew the hatch of the ladder off and climbed up to the surface. He made a dash for Gordon.

"Freeman!" Snake shouted. "Behind you!"

Gordon quickly turned around holding a gun with three claws on the front of it that opened releasing an orange light. Zero stopped dead in his tracks.

"What did you do?" Samus asked.

Zero was actually off of the ground still in a charging position, his feet were off of the ground. Gordon lifted the gun up thus lifting Zero farther off of the ground.

"I see," Samus said looking over the situation. "It's a gun that manipulates gravity."

Gordon nodded.

"So," Otacon said pushing up his glasses. "What do we do with him?"

"What is it?" Aya asked.

The team looked over at her.

"Huh," Sonic said scratching his head. "I kinda forgot you were here."

"Zero is a highly advanced robot." Megaman explained. "He was created to destroy me."

"Let's go over the explanations later. What do we do with it?" Snake said.

Samus pointed his gun at the robot. "For now, let's just send it away." He fired a teleport at Zero that vaporized him to another location.

"Where'd you send him?" Sonic asked.

"Somewhere safe." Samus said looking up.

A teleport flashed in deep space sending Zero floating in darkness. Zero looked around him, a hard object struck his back. He turned to see a head of a statue in the shape of a bird's head. Zero looked up and shouted into the empty space, where Zebes once lay.

"The enemy has probably seen that teleport you know." Megaman said to Samus.

Samus looked through a menu on his helmet. "It will lead them off course for a while. As for us," A loud crash ran through the sky as Samus's ship flew onto the helipad. "We go the long way." Samus jumped up to the top of his ship and released the ladder. Sonic, Snake, Megaman, Aya, and Otacon climbed up.

"Aren't you coming Gordon?" Otacon asked before closing the hatch.

Gordon looked up at him and shook his head. A teleport appeared behind him. Another man walked out wearing black body armor and carrying an automatic rifle. "Hey Otacon, been a while."

Otacon smiled. "Barney, what's going on?"

"One of the scientists here sent a distress call." Barney pointed at the teleport. "He created the teleport and Gordon here came in after you."

"Thanks Gordon." Gordon nodded his head.

"Anyhow." Barney walked back to the teleport. "We need to be getting back, catch me later though I'll buy you a beer." Barney walked into the teleport, Gordon looked up at Otacon for a moment and walked into the teleport after Barney.

Otacon closed the hatch, and the spaceship flew off.

"So where are we going?" Megaman asked after they were a far distance from the planet.

Aya looked out of the front window. "We're in space?"

Otacon joined behind her. "It just like what I thought it would be." Otacon pointed out. "Look, a shooting star." He said as a streak of light flew across the sky.

"Great," Samus said looking over at the two briefly. "I'm going to the headquarters of the Galactic Federation, they will shelter us, and I will bring to their attention the crisis of the enemy powers."

"Until then, why don't we all introduce ourselves to Aya. And maybe get to know Eve a little better." Megaman suggested. Aya turned around and looked at Megaman. "My names Megaman."

Sonic raised his hand. "Sonic the Hedgehog."

Snake sat in a corner. "Solid Snake."

Samus looked over at Aya. "Samus Aran."

Aya looked at the team in wonder. "And this is all of you?"

"Well, we have another member by the name of Cloud Strife." Megaman said. "And we had another member named Link, who has fallen."

"I see." Aya lowered her head.

"What can you tell us about Eve?" Snake said breaking the momentary silence.

Aya raised her head and thought for a moment. "Eve is, a human with perfect mitochondria."

"Perfect mitochondria?" Sonic asked cocking his head to the side.

"In Japan there was an incident, a scientist tried to recreate his dead wife from her cells. Though, those cells contained powerful mitochondria. The cells took the form of his wife, but when anyone got close to her their mitochondria reacted and they started on fire."

"That probably explains the heat we felt whenever we got close to Eve!" Megaman realized.

"What did the woman do?" Samus asked.

"The woman was no longer the scientists wife, she was Eve." Aya continued. "She set out to 'free' the mitochondria from its human shells, and to give birth to the Ultimate Being."

"What happened?" Sonic asked.

"They managed to defeat Eve, but her cells remained. An American scientist by the name of Dr. Klamp discovered these cells, learned about Eve, and set out to recreate her. He put the cells of Eve into a woman named Melissa Pierce, she is the Eve you have seen."

"And this Eve is trying to do the same thing?" Megaman asked trying to piece it all together.

"This is the same Eve, only in a different shell." Aya explained.

"And you say you've already beaten her?" Snake asked.

"Yes, seven years ago. But, I've seen Eve now, when I was captured." Aya held her head in her hands.

Otacon rubbed his chin. "You said they wanted you for your mitochondria, why is that?"

"My mitochondria are the same as Eve's." Aya sat back in her chair. "Mine don't react to when Eve is present, so they took samples of my mitochondria and are probably using it so they can be near Eve."

Megaman shrugged. "Makes sense."

"Yes, but what about," Snake stopped in his question and put his hand up to his ear. He then looked up a look of worry on his face.

"What is it Snake?" Sonic asked leaning in.

Snake brought his hand down from his ear. "We have to go to Hyrule, now."


	12. Chapter 12

1Chapter Twelve: One Winged Angel

"What's happened in Hyrule?" Samus asked.

Snake was silent for a moment. "Sephiroth is there."

"Sephiroth?" Aya asked.

"He's an extraordinarily powerful enemy." Sonic explained. "He's the one who, he's the one who killed Link."

"What are we going to do with these two?" Samus said pointing back at Otacon and Aya.

"Send them to Dr. Light's, they'll be safe there." Megaman suggested.

"Alright." Samus turned around, several menus flashed by on his helmet. "We'll be right back for you." Samus then fired a teleport at Aya and Otacon sending them away to Dr. Light's.

"How are we going to get to Hyrule in time?" Sonic asked.

Samus stood up. "Wait here." Samus walked to the back of the ship and went down a hatch in the floor. A teleport shortly appeared outside of the ship. Samus reappeared and took control of the ship. "Next stop, Hyrule." Samus flew the ship into the teleport.

The scene of when they arrived stunned them all.

The peaceful fields of Hyrule were dark with ashes, the villages lay scorched, and the town outside the castle was set ablaze as sounds of screams echoed through the air.

"My god…" Snake said never looking from the chaos. "It's like what Cloud said."

"What?" Megaman asked looking up at Snake.

Snake slowly pulled away from the horror. "Cloud told me about his village, and how it was burned to the ground by Sephiroth."

Megaman looked back out at the fires of Hyrule. "Sephiroth, is he human?"

"Look!" Sonic shouted pointing down in the fires.

The team all looked down through the fires, at the white haired, one winged, black caped man walking through the burning town towards the castle. He slowly turned his head up, and looked directly at Samus's ship and its members. A grin slowly formed along the left side of his mouth, he then cocked his head to the right.

An explosion fired in the back of Samus's ship.

"What happened?" Megaman asked bracing himself.

Samus pressed a few buttons in the ship. "The fuel tanks have exploded!"

The ship quickly began to descend to the ground.

Samus detached his gun arm and grabbed the manual controls. "Brace yourselves!"

The ship flew down and collided into the ground outside the Hyrule Castle.

Samus slowly stood, reattached his gun arm, opened the hatch on the top of the ship, and slowly climbed out.

"Everyone ok?" He asked helping everyone out of the ship.

"I believe so." Sonic asked patting him self down.

Sephiroth walked through the castle gates, the fire seemed to follow him.

The team stood in fear of the closing terror.

"Sephiroth!" Sonic shouted with the little bit of confidence he managed to save from when he last confronted him. "Why did you do all of that? Kill all those innocent people?"

Sephiroth continued to walk towards the castle.

Megaman began to charge a blast. "I hope this works." He fired the fully charged shot at Sephiroth. It came in close distance to Sephiroth before dissipating into nothing.

Samus lifted his gun and fired a missile at Sephiroth. The missile flew at Sephiroth before slowly turning left and flying into the air. "It's flying off course?" Samus asked watching the missile. The projectile made it's decent back to the ground exploding on the surface.

"Sephiroth," Sonic charged towards Sephiroth who continued to walk towards the castle, Sonic came into contact with a barrier between him and Sephiroth that sent him flying back.

Sephiroth continued to walk towards the castle, as if he never even noticed the team trying to stop him. Sephiroth stopped in front of the large castle doors, he threw out an arm releasing a wave of energy that blew the doors open.

The main entrance to the castle was empty, a red rug that led up some stair and to another doorway. Sephiroth knew there was more.

"Why are you here?" A voice asked.

Sephiroth looked up at the ceiling as a figure dropped to the ground. He wore a blue-skin tight-suit, with a white cloth cover on the front of it that also covered his neck and half his face, locks of blonde hair managed to escape his turban. "The Princess is not here."

Sephiroth looked over the man a grin passed his lips. "Cute." Sephiroth said finally.

The man's eyes narrowed. "What does that mean?"

"The eyes may be fooled by the illusion, but the Triforce is not." Sephiroth lifted his hand the Triforce of Power glowed.

The man looked down at his hand, he had a Triforce on his hand as well, the rightmost triangle shone brightly.

Sephiroth smiled. "I've found you," Sephiroth thrust forth his hand sending out a blast of energy, destroying the illusion and revealing Princess Zelda. "You have what I need."

Zelda stood firm. "I will not give you the Triforce of Wisdom."

"It is not necessary that you do so, as long as you tell me what I need to know." Sephiroth walked closer to the Princess.

"What is that?"

Sephiroth stood right in front of Zelda. "How do I enter the Promised Land?"

Zelda looked directly at Sephiroth. "What are you talking about?"

"The Promised Land, the Land of the Ancients. Or what you Hylians call 'The Land of the Sages'."

Zelda took a step back. "I will never tell you."

Sephiroth smiled. "Then you leave me no choice." Sephiroth gripped the hilt of his long katana. He slashed forward at Zelda, who vanished as the blade passed through her. Sephiroth lowered his sword and looked across the room.

Zelda reappeared on the other side of the entrance to the castle. "Why do you seek the Land of the Sages?"

"To claim what is rightfully mine." Sephiroth extended his wing and flew across the room at Zelda. Sephiroth slashed through the air where Zelda had vanished from, before even granting her the time Sephiroth flew to the location of her reappearance. Zelda was caught off guard, but managed to create a shield that blocked Sephiroth's sword.

The team came running into the doorway to see Zelda pushing a wall of green energy against Sephiroth's blade.

"What can we do?" Sonic asked looking up at Snake.

Snake gritted his teeth. "There's nothing we can do."

Sephiroth pulled his sword back, and with a piercing stab destroyed Zelda's shield.

Zelda jumped backward. "Sages, I cannot defeat him myself. Lend me your power!" Zelda held her hands to the air. A rainbow of light began to fall down upon her, she began to glow with a blue aura. She looked back at Sephiroth, who was obviously not intimidated. She held out a hand, Sephiroth's body straightened, he dropped his sword as his body began to lift to the air. "This is the full power of the Sages."

Sephiroth smiled. "Impressive, but it was only to be beat the Triforce of Power wasn't it?"

Zelda looked confused. Sephiroth smiled showing his teeth.

Sephiroth then began to gather power, a yellow aura began to form around him.

"No way!" Sonic shouted. "He can't!"

Sephiroth's body slowly began to curl into a fetal position, until it suddenly exploded in light. A shock wave was sent through the room, a blinding light flashed, a force powerful enough to extinguish the flames of Hyrule.

When the light faded, a powerful aura, almost like fire, shone in the middle of the entrance to the castle. Sephiroth slowly stood, his black clothing was now a bright clear white, the two branches that of hair that stuck in front of his face now curved up and around the top of his head, his long hair, now flowed in large golden spikes all the down his back, the feathers of his wing now golden spikes appearing almost metal, and the Triforce of Power on his right hand, shone out a light as bright as his aura.

"Are your Sages strong enough to stop me now?" Sephiroth said with a wicked smile.

The team stood in horror and awe.

"He…used the Chaos Emeralds…" Sonic slowly fell to the ground.

Samus leaned against the wall behind him. "He's beyond all of us now, there's nothing we can do."

Sephiroth reached out his hand as his sword came up from the ground and into it. It shone a light as it reacted to Sephiroth's new power. The hilt became as white as Sephiroth's clothes.

"Do you still want to fight, Princess?"

"I will never give up."

Sephiroth instantly appeared in front of her. "Good to know."

Zelda looked up at Sephiroth, then down at her stomach where his sword was imbedded. Sephiroth quickly slid his blade out of Zelda and placed it on his belt. Zelda fell to her knees, Sephiroth smiled as he held out his hand that bore the Triforce of Power. Golden light shone from Zelda as the Triforce of Wisdom left her, and went into the hand of Sephiroth. Another blast of light filled the room, Sephiroth then stood in his normal attire, a look of amazement on his face, and the Triforce on his hand now held the top and rightmost triangles. The lifeless body of Princess Zelda fell to the ground.

"What happened?" Megaman asked. "Why isn't he 'super' anymore?"

Sonic stood and snapped his fingers. "With the Triforce of Power, Sephiroth must have drained all of the energy from the Chaos Emeralds. He'll have to wait before he can use them again."

"Not to say this situation is any better." Snake looked hard at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth still wore a face of amazement, he closed his eyes and lifted his face upward. A moment later, he opened his eyes and lowered his head he was calm.

"The Spirit Stones." Sephiroth then vanished in an explosion of light leaving a few feathers from his wing behind.

"What did he say?" Sonic asked.

"The Spirit Stones I believe." Megaman answered.

Samus began to think. "The Spirit Stones, that's what you need to open the door in the Temple of Time."

"Zelda said that the Temple worked as a doorway between Hyrule and the Land of the Sages didn't she?" Snake asked also figuring things out.

"And," Megaman added. "Sephiroth said that he was trying to get to the Land of the Sages."

"And now that he has the Triforce of Wisdom, he probably knows that the Temple is the gate." Sonic thought aloud. "And he would probably know where all the Spirit Stones are right now."

The team fell silent for a moment. They all slowly looked up at each other, all of them realizing the immediate danger at the same moment.

The team burst out of the castle and ran for the Temple of Time. They all arrived and opened the doors to see Sephiroth placing the three stones on the pedestal in front of the large door.

"Curse that instant transmission!" Sonic shouted.

Sephiroth looked back at them. The team knew they couldn't beat him, but they prepared to fight. Sephiroth lightly smiled and placed the last of the three stones on the pedestal. He then reached into his coat and pulled out a blue ocarina.

"What's he going to do with that?" Megaman asked.

Sephiroth brought the Ocarina to his lips and played a low song that echoed in the large cathedral.

"Nice song." Sonic said listening.

Sephiroth finished playing the Ocarina and placed it back in his coat. The walls rumbled, a slit appeared in the large stone door, the two sections of the door slid back into the wall. Sephiroth walked around the pedestal and in front of the opening door, and was taken back by what he saw inside.

Cloud sat on the pedestal with his head hung low, and his hands on top of the hilt of the Master Sword balancing it against the ground. A Buster Sword stood against the wall behind wrapped in bandages. He wore a red cape that had a neck that covered his and his mouth, and on his left hand he wore a glove with gold fingers. But strangest of all, was the black demon-like wing that extended from his back. He also looked older. Cloud slowly raised his head and looked up at Sephiroth.

"What took you so long?"

Sephiroth stared at Cloud. "You will not stop me."

Cloud smiled. "I already have." Cloud stood and slashed the Master Sword in the air twice.

Sephiroth gripped the hilt of his sword, and Cloud gripped the hilt of the Master Sword and stood in his battle position. They stared into each other's bright eyes before dashing across the room at each other.

The two swords clashed sending a powerful shock wave throughout the room. The two struggled their blades against each other.

Sephiroth extended his wing. "You are like me."

Cloud extended his. "In more ways than one." A light shone from the hilt of the Master Sword. The light came not from the sword, but from the image of the Triforce on Cloud's right hand, the leftmost triangle shining brightly.

Sephiroth looked up at Cloud. "The Triforce of Courage."

The two released their swords and took jumps backwards. Cloud raised his right hand showing the Triforce in full glory.

"I am the Hero of Worlds."

Sephiroth smiled and raised his hand, the Triforces of Power and Wisdom both shone. "I have two pieces, I need only yours."

"By the end of this fight Sephiroth," Cloud prepared to charge. "You will have none." Cloud dashed at Sephiroth, Sephiroth also ran towards Cloud. The two extended their wings and began to fly at each other. The two began an aerial assault at each other, each time their blades meeting filling the Temple of Time with the loud echo of a metallic clash.

The rest of the team could do nothing but stand in awe. They would have never guessed Cloud had the ability to perform such feats of combat, and then there was the wing, Cloud would have to explain that later.

"Why are we just standing around?" Megaman asked.

Sonic pointed at the fight. "What do you want us to do?"

"I know we don't stand a chance against Sephiroth, and that Cloud is far ahead of us in power. But we still have to do what we can to help." Megaman shifted his arm to his buster. "We have to fight, for everlasting peace!"

The team fell silent.

"Megaman's right." Samus said. "We need to give Cloud all the help we can."

Snake slid his buster onto his hand. "Everlasting peace, hmm, sounds nice."

Sonic braced himself as he began to gather energy. "All the help we can give you say?" Sonic exploded into Hyper Sonic. "Let's do it."

Samus aimed his arm at Sephiroth and fired shots that seemed to do no damage up on impact. Megaman and Snake met such luck as well.

Sonic began to fire rapid bullets of his Chaos Energy at Sephiroth that did a slight amount of damage.

Cloud and Sephiroth clashed swords once more and then flew to separate sides of the Temple.

"We're even." Cloud said panting.

Sephiroth smiled. "Not for long." Sephiroth began to gather energy.

"He must have regained enough energy!" Sonic shouted. "He's going to go Super again!"

"Not even Cloud can stand up against that!" Megaman shouted.

"Not yet," Sonic lowered his head and lifted his arms. "Power of the Hyper Emeralds! Leave me, and go with Cloud!" Sonic thrust his arms out at Cloud. The golden energy left Sonic leaving him once again blue.

Seven spheres of light flew to Cloud, they spun around him, and then collapsed into him. Light shot from Cloud, he screamed under the force of the power. Energy burst of Cloud filling the Temple with light, his wing was now the size of his entire body and was a white color, his cape flowed around his shoulders, his hair looked about the same only much brighter and his clothes were of a golden color.

The two finished their transformations, they both felt the might of their Chaos Emerald increased power, and they both knew this would be the greatest fight of their lives.

Sephiroth and Cloud flew across the room at each other their two blades clashed sending a shock wave of power throughout the Temple that sent the team flying to the walls, and blew the roof of the Temple clear off. The two grinded their swords together for several moments before separating and flying across the sky sending shock waves through the air each time their blades met.

"I can't even see their movements." Megaman said looking into the sky watching from one shock wave to the next.

Sonic also tried to keep up with them. "They're moving faster than anything I have ever seen before."

"All we can do is wait for one of them to fall." Samus said looking into the sky.

The two warriors slowly began to come down to the ground. Cloud quickly slashed several times, and then dived his sword into Sephiroth's right hand directly in the middle of the Triforce of Wisdom. Sephiroth shouted in pain as golden light climbed up the blade of the Master Sword. Cloud pulled the sword out, Sephiroth left super mode, and fell to his knees as gripped his hand. Dark energy formed around his hand and began to heal it.

Cloud lifted his sword heavenward, golden light shot from the blade illuminating the sky. A dense light lifted off the blade, a figure elevated to the air taking the shape of Princess Zelda. Zelda looked down at Cloud and smiled before the light vanished. Cloud looked down at Sephiroth, he readied the Master Sword to strike down at Sephiroth when he too fell out of super mode.

Cloud was thrown off balance giving Sephiroth an opening. Sephiroth gathered energy in his hand and stuck Cloud in the chest sending him flying to the rest of the team.

Sephiroth stood. "I will not be defeated by your blade." Dark energy swarmed around Sephiroth, darkness came pouring up from the ground in front of him, and a dark figure rose from the portal in the ground.

"What's he doing?" Snake asked Cloud. "Using Materia?"

Cloud studied the figure rising from the ground. "Yes, a very dangerous one. It's called Roulette."

Megaman looked over at Cloud. "Roulette, like the casino game?"

Cloud sighed. "This magic attack will randomly select one person, and then kill them instantly."

The whole team was taken back.

Cloud pointed at Sephiroth. "You put your own life at risk Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth smiled. "Five of you, one of me. The odds are in my favor today."

The figure took its shape, it carried a large sickle, and wore a long hooded robe. Dark energy flowed around it.

Sephiroth threw out his hand. "Roulette, begin!"

The dark figure vanished and reappeared in front of Samus, then appeared in front of Sonic, then Megaman, then Snake, Cloud, then back to Sephiroth. It continued this cycle, continuing faster and faster each time it made it's round trip. A circle of dark energy now was all that could be seen from the creature.

Finally the creature stopped,

In front of Megaman.

The room fell silent, the league stood in disbelief of the monsters choice.

Megaman stared into the hood of the creature, and eyes like fire illuminated and stared back down at him. The creature raised his sickle.

Megaman stood motionless. "For everlasting peace…"

The sickle came down and slashed through Megaman. Megaman went flying back, eyes wide open, and jaw dropped.

"Megaman!" Samus shouted as he ran forward to catch him.

Inches above Samus's hands, Megaman shone a bright light, and exploded into hundreds of blue spheres that flew across the room and slowly dissipated into the air.

Samus fell to his knees and punched the ground.

"Megaman…" Was all that Sonic could find to say.

Snake heavily sighed and hung his head. Cloud gritted his teeth and clenched his fists.

Samus stood and pointed his gun at Sephiroth. "Sephiroth!" He shouted. "You have sealed your fate!"

Sephiroth smiled.

Sonic clenched his fists. "Is this funny to you? The death of others, do you enjoy it?"

Samus took three steps toward Sephiroth before his gun fell to his side and he stood still. The same thing happened to the others.

"What's happening?" Sonic asked Cloud.

Cloud stared into Sephiroth's eyes. "It was a diversion."

Snake looked up at Cloud. "What?"

"Megaman's death, was a diversion so Sephiroth could gather his energy again." Cloud gripped the hilt of the Master Sword tightly.

Samus clenched his fist. "Are you even human any more?" He asked Sephiroth.

Sephiroth held his hand out to Cloud. "No," He said softly. "I am a god." A pack on Cloud's side opened. A black orb levitated out, and flew to Sephiroth.

Sonic followed the orbs flight. "What is that?"

"The Dark Materia." Cloud hung his head back. "He must have learned I had it when he had the Triforce of Wisdom."

Sephiroth slowly looked at the orb, its majestic black glow reflected off of his eyes. He brought both hands around it, letting his grip go on the team.

The team fell to the ground and immediately began their attack. Samus and Snake fired everything they had, but nothing made it past a barrier Sephiroth had up.

Purple electricity crackled off of the orb, Sephiroth raised his hands heavenward as clouds began to gather.

Cloud extended his wing and dashed at Sephiroth, each time he slashed his blade he came into contact with Sephiroth's barrier.

Dark energy began to surround Sephiroth, the orb shined a dark purple light, and wind began to heavily blow.

"Cloud!" Sonic shouted. Cloud turned and looked at him. "What does that thing do?"

Cloud looked into the glow of the Materia. "It summons the Calamity From the Skies, Meteor."

"Meteor?" Sonic asked.

"Meteor will damage the planet so heavily it will cause the Life Stream to seep out."

"Life Stream?"

"The planet's energy force, Sephiroth means to absorb it. It will give him limitless power, this is his act of desperation!"

"You've lost me!" Sonic shouted as winds continued to build.

Sephiroth separated his hands from the Dark Materia, and it shot into the sky. Sephiroth stared into space where the orb left its purple glow.

Snake looked around. "Did it work?"

Cloud looked into the sky. "Yes." He sighed as he pointed up at a red star, one that had never been in the Hyrule sky, appeared and appeared to grow bigger.

"Now what?" Samus asked in anger looking at Sephiroth.

Cloud reached down and picked up his Buster Sword from the wreckage of the Temple of Time. "We have to destroy Sephiroth before Meteor gets here." Cloud dashed at Sephiroth and attacked with both swords. Sephiroth managed to dodge or block each strike. Samus and Snake fired their most powerful shots at Sephiroth. The blasts never made it past his barrier. And Sonic tried as hard as he could to muster any power left from the Hyper Emeralds, but their power was drained from Cloud and Sephiroth's fight.

The red star grew bigger.

"Cloud!" Samus shouted pointing to the star.

Cloud looked up into his fears. The Meteor was in the atmosphere.

"It's going faster than I ever thought it would have." Cloud said looking into the sky.

Sephiroth took Cloud's distraction as time to jump out from the fight. He smiled as the Meteor burned in the atmosphere. He looked down at the team smiling, and laughed.

Meteor broke the atmosphere, and collided into Hyrule.


	13. Chapter 13

1Chapter Thirteen: Nothing

Cloud slowly stood and looked around the barren land that lay before him. He patted ash off of him as Samus slowly rose from the debris. The two looked at each other for a moment and looked for the others. Samus found Sonic face down in the dirt. Samus helped him up and wiped the dirt from his face. Sonic coughed and wheezed. Cloud found Snake standing and taking in the sullen view. Cloud placed his hand Snake's shoulder and sighed with him. The team gathered together and shared in the silence. Cloud found his Buster Sword and placed it on his back while he held onto the Master Sword. Sonic took a few steps away and looked ahead of him, at an incline that wasn't there before. He slowly began to walk up it, and the others shortly followed him to the top.

None of them could hide their shock.

The four all stood and looked down into a colossal crater that swallowed almost the entire land of Hyrule.

End Part Two


	14. Chapter 14

1Chapter Fourteen: The Gates Open

"Hyrule...it's gone..." Sonic leaned over the edge of the crater.

Samus turned over to Cloud. "Has Sephiroth ever done anything like this before?"

Cloud was silent for a moment. "No, Sephiroth has never used the Black Materia before."

Snake looked down into the hole. "What's that?" The other's came to him and looked down into the crater. A strange green light shone from the center of the impact site.

"The Life Stream." Cloud jumped down into the massive crater. The team looked at each other and jumped in after him.

As they fell, the green light grew brighter and brighter. Cloud gripped the hilt of the Master Sword tight as they came close to a floating chunk of rock amid a swirling vortex of green light.

"What is this?" Sonic asked looking around. The walls of the crater were normal stone, but all around them, the green light shot from even deeper within.

"It's the life stream of the planet." Cloud said looking down.

"What's life stream?" Sonic asked. "You said something about it before."

Cloud sighed. "The Life Stream is the energy force that a planet lives on. It's like the planet's blood. All living things are made of it, and when they die, they join it again. Sephiroth used Meteor to damage the planet so heavily that the life steam would come pouring out, like how blood pours from a wound. Sephiroth plans to merge with the life stream, giving him limitless power."

"Where's Sephiroth now?" Samus asked.

Cloud looked around. "He's down there." Cloud pointed into the vortex of green light.

Sonic smiled. "Then what are we waiting for?"

The team looked at each other and jumped down into the life stream.

They fell for what seemed like hours before they finally landed on a very large platform above what looked like flowing green water.

"Is that it?" Snake asked.

Cloud nodded. "Yeah, that's life stream."

Samus pointed forward. "And that's Sephiroth."

Cloud spun around to see Sephiroth at the very edge of the platform, hands extended.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud charged. Sephiroth lowered his hands and dodged Cloud's attack with ease. "How can you do this? How can you destroy so many lives just for power?" Cloud slashed at Sephiroth with both the Master Sword and his Buster Sword. "You don't care who you hurt, just as long as you get stronger!"

Sephiroth hit Cloud on the chest with his open palm. Cloud flew back hitting the ground several times. Sephiroth lifted into the air a short way. "You know nothing." Sephiroth unsheathed his sword. "I am the last of the ancients, the Promised Land is mine by right. If it will not be given to me, I will take it."

"You aren't an ancient..." Cloud uttered under his breath. "_She_ was the last of the ancients, and you killed her yourself!"

"The Promised Land is mine, no one else can take it from me."

Cloud gripped the hilt of his swords tighter.

"Ha, ha ha...stop trying to act as if you were sad. There's no need to act as if you were angry either. Because, Cloud. You are,"

A deep rumbling growl filled the crater.

Cloud and Sephiroth stared at each other.

No one moved.

The team looked around for what made the sound. Cloud and Sephiroth stared directly at each other.

"Sephiroth..." Cloud said slowly. "What was that?"

Sephiroth was silent. "I don't know."

The deep rumble filled crater once more.

Sonic noticed a sparkling light on the crater wall. When he went to it he realized that the light wasn't on the wall, but floating in the air close to them. "Hey guys..."

The light began to grow bigger, lightning cackled off of it.

"Sonic...what did you do?" Snake stepped away from the light.

Cloud and Sephiroth slowly turned their heads to the light. "What is this Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth turned and looked at Cloud. "I don't know."

Cloud grabbed Sephiroth's coat. "What is it?"

Sephiroth leaned forward. "I don't know."

The lightning then stopped.

"Is it over?" Samus said after a moment.

The light then grew into the form of a large blue circle filled with a swirling vortex of light making a sound that can only be described as the universe being torn apart.

There was a brief moment of silence before the team began to get sucked into the portal.

Samus dug his hand into the rock, Snake grabbed onto the ground, Sonic ran in the opposite direction of the portal, and Cloud and Sephiroth both managed to stand evenly on the ground.

Sephiroth looked around and smiled, he then looked into the portal.

"What are you doing Sephiroth?"

Sephiroth knocked Cloud away from him and then dashed toward the portal.

"No!" Cloud flew after Sephiroth with both swords ready to strike.

Moments before entering the portal, Sephiroth vanished in a cloud of black smoke and feathers. Cloud turned to see Sephiroth across the crater smiling. "Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted as he was sucked in. Sephiroth then threw his palm at the platform the rest of the team clung to, shattering it. The team went flying into the portal as Sephiroth laughed.

The portal closed behind them, and Cloud, Samus, Sonic, and Snake went flying through a vortex of swirling blue light.


	15. Chapter 15

1Chapter Fifteen: Travelers of both Time and Space

A portal opened and the team tumbled out onto the ground.

Samus stood up and looked around. "What is this?"

Sonic felt the walls. "It's some kind of cave."

"Where are we?" Snake asked.

Cloud sat on the ground.

"What are you doing here?" A voice asked.

The team turned around to see a man in blue overalls wearing a white shirt and a hard hat with a light on it.

"How did you people get in here?" He asked.

"Uh..." Sonic said. "We...uh...we..."

"We're with a film crew studying these caves." Snake said. Sonic and Samus turned to him.

"Film crew?" The man said. "What do you do?"

"I'm the director." Snake explained.

"Who's the guy in the cape?" The man nodded at Cloud.

Snake stuttered for a moment. "He...he is funding the project."

"And what's with the suit?" The man pointed at Samus.

Snake was silent for just a moment.

"This suit protects me from all environmental damage." Samus explained. "It also has a camera function built into the helmet."

"Uh huh...and the hedgehog?" The man asked looking down at Sonic.

Sonic was about to say something when Snake put his hand in front of him. "He's the mascot."

"Mascot?" The man looked down at Sonic. "What's the name of your company?"

Snake cleared his throat. "Sonic...Sonic Pictures."

"Whatever, just hurry up and get done, I got a dig coming through here." The man then turned and left.

"Mascot?" Sonic looked up at Snake

Snake shrugged.

"Where do you think we are?" Samus asked.

Sonic walked around the cave. "Obviously we're underground."

Cloud stood up. "I let him get away."

Samus put his hand on Cloud's shoulder. "It wasn't your fault. It was all because of that portal."

Cloud threw Samus' hand off of him. "No, it's because I chased after Sephiroth into the portal. If I had just stayed where I was,"

"Then Sephiroth would have gone in the portal instead and he would've gotten away anyway." Sonic shouted.

Cloud turned to him.

"Stop beating yourself up over this." Sonic walked up to Cloud and stared up at him. "If it weren't for you Sephiroth would have the Triforce of Wisdom, he would have used the Temple of Time as the gateway and gone to the Land of the Sages, and let's not forget, we'd all be dead!"

"He's right." Snake put his hand on Sonic's head. "You've done more than any of us ever could do. We could never have been able to do anything that we have without you."

"What have we done?" Cloud threw the Master Sword down. "Hyrule has been destroyed! It's people are all dead and Sephiroth is still in the crater and as we speak is absorbing the Life Stream!"

"Then let's get him before he can finish." Samus held his gun up.

Cloud shook his head. "It's impossible, I can beat him."

Samus lowered his head. "You don't understand do you?"

Cloud raised his head. "What?"

Samus walked over to Cloud and grabbed his right hand. "Look at this."

Cloud looked at his hand, the Triforce of Courage shone.

"You bear the Triforce of Courage, you are the legendary hero just as Link was before you. You are _destined_ to beat Sephiroth. It doesn't matter if Sephiroth has absorbed the Life Stream of twenty planets, you will still find a way to defeat him." Samus tossed Cloud's hand aside. "Let's at least get above ground and figure out where we are." Samus walked out of the cave.

Cloud bowed his head, picked up the Master Sword, and followed after.

Sonic and Snake looked at each other.

"What do you think Snake? Do you really think we can beat Sephiroth?" Sonic kicked a small stone and looked back up.

Snake crossed his arms. "I can't."

Sonic chuckled.

Snake began to walk out of the cave. "But together," Snake turned around. "We'll take him down."

Sonic smiled and dashed after him.

The team walked past a full team of what looked like construction workers and archeologists They boarded a rackety elevator and went up to the surface.

The sight of when they reached the surface was not at all what they expected.

The surface of the planet was one giant futuristic city. A bustling metropolis of colossal buildings and flying cars. Lights flashed in every direction, every time you turned your head you were hit with at least over thirty different colors all at once before your eyes had a chance to calm down and differentiate between the sights. Even Samus, the most technological of the team was shocked by the sight of this city.

Several minutes passed while the team stared at the city.

"Alright..." Cloud said finally. "Let's see if we can't find out where we are."

The four walked around the city taking in everything that they saw.

"Wait." Sonic said at last. The team stopped and looked at him. "Why is it that we haven't met a single person on the road here?"

The other three looked around.

"Sonic's right." Samus said. "Let's check in here." Samus pointed up at a building just in front of them.

The four went up the steps and opened the doors to the building. The inside was nothing like the out. Outside the building fit into the landscape of the city perfectly, you wouldn't have noticed it unless you were looking for it. However, on the inside the building was like a courthouse. The walls were white, the floor was white tile specked with little black dots for extra color. A large brown reception desk stood in front of them.

"How can I help you?" The woman at the desk asked. She was about as tall as Snake, had long red-brown hair, and blue eyes. She wore a blue skirt and a white blouse.

Snake smiled and walked to the desk. "Yes, I was wondering if you could tell us where we are?"

The woman smiled. "You are currently in the Met City resource office."

Snake nodded. "Alright. This may sound strange, but, what is the name of this planet?"

The woman giggled. "That's not strange at all. We're perfectly accustomed to off-worlders here."

"You are?" Snake smiled and looked back at the team. "That's good."

Samus walked to the desk. "Is this planet a part of the Galactic Federation?"

The woman stared at Samus. "You're joking..."

Samus stared back at the woman. "What?"

The woman looked around. "The old Federation has been gone for hundreds of years."

"That's impossible." Samus looked around.

"Is this a joke?" The woman looked back at Snake.

Snake lightly pushed Samus aside. "What is the name of this planet?"

The woman paused for a moment. "Sir, you're on Hyrule."

Samus turned back around. "What?"

"I suppose you're going to tell me that Hyrule was destroyed recently?" The woman put her hands on her hips.

Samus raised his hand and slowly walked away.

Cloud put his hand on the desk. "You're certain this is Hyrule?"

"I've lived here my entire life." The woman threw her hand in the air. "So unless the last twenty five years have all been a lie or a dream."

Samus continued to walk around looking at every corner of the room, and stopped dead in his tracks.

"What's going on Samus?" Sonic looked up at him. "Samus?" Sonic looked at what Samus was staring at and fell silent.

Cloud continued to talk with the woman when Snake grabbed at his cape. Cloud turned and dropped his mouth.

At the far side of the room, at almost ten feet tall stood a statue of Sephiroth, with his sword in one hand, and his other hand raised in a fist. His one dark wing extended.

"What the hell..." Cloud walked up to the statue. "What is this doing here?"

The woman walked out from behind her desk. "This is a statue of the great Sephiroth."

"I know who it is." Cloud growled. "Why is it here?"

The woman coughed. "It is here as a tribute to him."

Sonic turned. "Tribute?"

The woman looked down at Sonic. "Yes."

Cloud stood directly in front of the woman and looked down at her. "Why do you tribute him?"

The woman backed up and stood by her desk. "I don't know what customs they have on your planet,"

"Why do you have a statue of Sephiroth in your hall?" Cloud thrust his finger at the statue.

"You could ask nicer." The woman said firmly. Cloud lowered his head and bore his large bright eyes into her. "Sephiroth created Hyrule, we worship him." The woman shrugged. "He is our god."


	16. Chapter 16

1Chapter Sixteen: Rebirth of Hyrule

Cloud held the woman up by her shirt. "What do you mean your god?"

"Sir!" The woman shouted.

"Let her go Cloud!" Samus shouted grabbing at him.

Cloud looked down, and then back up at her noticing her name tag. It had the name "Zelda" printed on it. Cloud slowly lowered her.

Samus grabbed Cloud and pulled him back.

"You have to excuse him," Sonic said. "He's a little crazy."

"I see." Zelda straightened her clothes. "Don't worry, I've had worse than that."

The team all looked up at her. "What?" Snake said astonished.

Zelda smiled. "That's not he first time a person has attacked a Hylian reception agent."

The team looked at each other and shrugged.

Snake walked back up to Zelda. "What can you tell us about your planet's history?"

Zelda smiled. "Sure, come on in." Zelda turned and opened the large brown doors behind the desk. The team then entered a large library like room. It was furnished with large red leather chairs and books adorned the walls.

Zelda sat on a large sofa in the center of the room. "Please sit." The team all sat down and looked about the room.

"I don't get this place." Sonic said sitting down. "It's futuristic, then it's classic. What's next, the old west?"

"If you want." Zelda said. At that moment the library turned into a dirt road between two rows of wooden plank houses. A tumbleweed passed by them.

"I was joking." Sonic said slowly.

"Alright." Zelda said, and the room changed back. "The history of Hyrule is hard to tell, the oldest relics can be dated to over seven billion years ago."

"Seven billion years?" Cloud leaned forward.

Zelda nodded. "Currently we are in the year 1999 of the second age of Hyrule. Ancient records state that the world was a desolate wasteland until Lord Sephiroth appeared and created life."

Cloud gritted his teeth.

"Sephiroth created all living things on the planet with his power. He created mountains, rivers, trees, and humans." Zelda reached for a book. "According to legend, Sephiroth commanded the power of the very life force of the planet. Anything he wanted to the planet to do, it did."

Cloud nodded. "He fused with the Life Stream."

Zelda looked up. "What did you say?"

Cloud stood up. "I'm sorry, but Sephiroth is no god."

Zelda stood up. "What do you mean?"

Samus reached for Cloud. "Stop."

Cloud paced a short distance. "I was there Samus. We both were."

"Both were?" Zelda tossed the book aside.

Cloud and Samus looked over at Zelda then back at each other.

"Cloud," Snake said nervously. "Not now."

Cloud rubbed his mouth and turned to Zelda. "We were all there 'seven billion years ago' when Sephiroth destroyed Hyrule, not created it!"

Samus held his head.

"You worship a murderer!" Cloud shouted.

"Police." Zelda said calmly. Instantly, five men appeared in black uniforms.

Cloud looked around at them.

Samus stood beside Cloud. "Don't do this, not now."

Cloud paced a little while, and then stopped and breathed.

"I have to ask you to leave." Zelda pointed at the door.

Cloud breathed deep and nodded. He then grabbed one of the guards and tossed him across the room.

The rest of the team sighed deeply.

The other four guards grabbed Cloud and carried him out of the building.

"I'm really sorry about that." Samus said to Zelda.

Zelda was silent. "What did he mean, you were there?"

Samus looked back at Snake and Sonic. They both shrugged. "We have to go." They then ran out of the building.

Zelda ran after them. "Come back here!"

Snake stopped and turned around. "Where did they take Cloud?"

Zelda thought for a moment. "They would have taken him to the Center."

"Center?" Snake shouted back.

Zelda pointed into the city. Snake turned and stared at an enormous building sitting in the center of the city.

Snake looked back. "Thanks." He then ran off with the other two.

Zelda stood at the entrance of the building a little while longer.

"Destroyed Hyrule?" She said to herself as she walked back in.

The three ran down the streets of the city. "Where are we going?" Sonic asked.

"Zelda said that Cloud would be taken to the Center." Snake said pointing at the obelisk in the center of the city.

Samus stopped. "Then let's get there." He scanned through several menus on his visor.

Sonic looked up at him. "What are you doing?"

A sleek yellow vehicle pulled up next to them. "A city this big has to have taxis." Samus stepped inside followed by Snake and Sonic.

"Where you going?" Asked the programmed voice of the car.

Samus leaned forward. "Take us to the Center."

Cloud was tossed into a large dark pit where he lay for several minutes. After coming to, he stood up and looked around.

"Anyone here?" He asked into the darkness.

It wasn't pure darkness. There were thin beam of light that shot from the ceiling, at least there was some light. Cloud sat back down and tried to collect his bearings.

"So," He started. "Obviously I'm in the future. That portal thing sent me here. Sephiroth is responsible for it. And the people in this future worship Sephiroth as a god."

Cloud then stood up and shouted.

He sat back down. "Is everyone in the future crazy?"

"No." Said a voice in the cell.

Cloud span to his feet. "Who's there?"

A few moments passed. "Where are you?"

Cloud could hear the sound of footsteps. He squinted to see what was coming. It was human in shape, in better light he say him clearly. The man wore black pants and brown boots, his shirt was green, had a low cut neck and was sleeveless, on his wrists were black metallic bracers, he had somewhat long blonde hair, and long pointed ears.

"Who are you?" Cloud asked silently.

Silence.

"Can you talk?"

The man stared at Cloud for a short while.

"Yes." He said.

Cloud's eyes widened. "Link?"

The man shook his head. "Yes."

Cloud looked around in disbelief. "What are you doing here?"

Link deeply breathed.

Cloud sat down. "Right sorry,"

"What for?" Link asked.

Cloud's head shot up. "What?"

Link smiled. "You are Cloud Strife aren't you?"

"How did you," Cloud was baffled.

Link chuckled. "A lot has happened since the meteor struck ancient Hyrule."

Cloud sat down closer to Link. "Tell me everything."

Link sighed. "The story of the fall of Hyrule has been passed down the Hylian generations. A so called 'Legend.'"

"Legend?" Cloud asked.

Link smiled. "In every generation of the Hylian people, two children are born named Link and Zelda. In legend, the child named Link was a mute, only able to say yes and no. However, through the years, the Link's have learned to speak."

Cloud smiled. "That'll make my day easier."

Link laughed. "After the destruction of Hyrule, the last surviving people took up refuge in neighboring lands. Many fled to Termina, others left to various Islands. However, Sephiroth found us. He wiped us out, anytime he could find us. Making especially sure to kill any girl named Zelda he found."

"But," Cloud was confused. "At the reception area there was a woman named Zelda."

Link smiled. "After the meteor struck, Sephiroth absorbed the Life Stream of the planet."

Cloud nodded.

"No one knows whether the Life Stream did it by itself or if Sephiroth created it but life began to come back to Hyrule. What is known, is that Sephiroth created his own people, based on his own image, on the land." Link put his head in his hands. "The first woman he created, he named Zelda. And there has been a fake Zelda ever since."

Cloud sighed. "What happened to the other lands?"

"After Hyrule began to rebuild, other lands began to fall to its power." Link stood up. "Sephiroth destroyed any who objected him. His new race was to be the most powerful in the land. After Sephiroth slaughtered all who opposed him, his new race was able flourish and conquer the world. The people called Sephiroth their savior, that, without him they would perish."

Link walked to the end of the cell.

"I don't understand one thing." Cloud stood up. "How did you know who I was?"

Link slowly turned. "You and your team have been recorded in Hylian archives. You, a bounty hunter, a hedgehog, a mercenary, and what is only described as a 'Mega Man.'"

Cloud chuckled. "Where do the Hylians live now?"

Link bowed his head. "Now the true Hylians are all but extinct. I am one of the last."

"I see." Cloud thought for a moment. "Wait, wouldn't the Sages have helped you?"

Link scoffed. "We have been waiting for that." Link walked around the cell. "Sephiroth bears the Triforce of Power. An object that gives him,"

Cloud interrupted. "I know what the Triforce is."

"Oh." Link nodded.

"I have the Triforce of Courage." Cloud raised his right hand.

Link grabbed Cloud's hand. Link looked up at Cloud and smiled with joy. "You have come...you came to free us!"

Cloud backed up. "Wait..."

Link walked toward Cloud when he saw the shimmer of the sword on Cloud's belt.

Link's eyes widened. "That's...tha...it's..."

Cloud looked down at the Master Sword. "Yeah..."

"The Sword of Evil's Bane..." Link fell to his knees. "You have come to kill Sephiroth and rid the planet of everything he's created..."

Cloud brought Link up. "Listen, I would love to kill Sephiroth more than you know. But I didn't mean to come to the future, and Sephiroth must be long dead by now and we have to get out of here."

"Sephiroth isn't dead." Link said.

Cloud turned his head slowly. "What?"

Link sighed deeply. "Whether we worship him or not, after absorbing Life Stream, Sephiroth is a god."


	17. Chapter 17

1Chapter seventeen: More than a memory

"Sephiroth is still alive?" Cloud slowly walked to Link. "And he's here?"

Link nodded. "Yeah, he presides at the top of The Central."

Cloud walked back and forth a bit. "I'm gonna get us out of here."

Link looked around the room. "Easier said than done I'm afraid, I've been trying to get out of here for a long time."

Cloud put his hand against one of the dark walls, light shot from his palm and an explosion blew open a large hole in the wall. "Did you have materia?"

Link looked at the hole. "No, no I did not."

Cloud stepped out into the now open hallway. "How do we get to the top?"

Link looked down each end of the hallway. "There should be stairs somewhere near here."

Cloud looked over at Link. "Stairs?"

Link smiled. "In case of an emergency, do no use elevator." Link then trotted down the hall.

Cloud soon followed after Link. "What kind of guards can we expect?"

Link turned another corner. "Mostly robot, they're easily slashable though."

"Slashable robot guards...that's good." Cloud reached back and unsheathed his Buster Sword and continued to run.

Link however held his arm out so the bottom of his forearm was up. His metal bracer opened and pushed a metal device into his hand. A blade of purple energy extended. Link readied the blade for an attack.

However, as the team ran through the halls they encountered no guards of any kind.

"You sure there are supposed to be guards?" Cloud asked stopping in the middle of a hall.

Link looked around. "Yeah, I was pretty sure there were supposed to be. I've never actually escaped you know."

Cloud nodded and looked around. "Let's just find these 'stairs' and get to Sephiroth."

Link rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, I'm not even sure those are here."

Cloud slowly turned his head to Link. "What?"

"Like I said, I've never escaped before." Link smiled.

Cloud bowed his head and sighed. "All right then." Cloud dashed at a nearby wall and smashed through it with his sword, revealing the futuristic city.

Link looked through the hole. "What are you doing?"

Cloud grabbed Link by his shirt. "Going up." Cloud jumped from the building and pulled Link out with him. Cloud looked up the air, extended his one wing, and began to take off into the air toward the top of the building.

Link looked around. "Hey, you have a wing."

Cloud looked down at him and smiled. "Yeah."

Sonic leaned out of the moving taxi, squinted a bit, and pointed to the sky near The Center. "Did Cloud just jump out of that explosion hole?"

Samus nodded. "Sure looks like it. Faster please."

Cloud flew up to the highest point on the building and landed on the roof. "Let's try and get in this way." Cloud lifted his sword into the air and prepared to strike the building when the Buster Sword was knocked from his hands and went spinning to the ground.

"Watch out!" Sonic shouted to the car as Cloud's sword went spinning to the ground. "I'm going up to help him." Sonic looked to the other two in the cab.

Snake and Samus looked at each other briefly. "Go," Said Samus. "We'll be there in a minute."

Sonic smiled and leapt from the air car.

Sonic rocketed through the empty space of the city. "For a future city there sure aren't a lot of flying cars." Sonic looked up for a moment. "They're all up there..." That's when Sonic heard the loud roar. Sonic slowly turned his head to the ground to which he and Cloud's Buster Sword now plummeted. Thousands of large green dinosaur like creatures with a large horn on the top of their heads roamed the unsettled ground. Sonic saw everything he needed. He pointed his body and sped to the Buster Sword. Sonic gripped the handle and shouted in power. Yellow light shot from the depths of Future Hyrule and Super Sonic shot to the top of The Center.

Cloud watched his sword fall to the depths of the city and looked back to see a strange black figure walking toward him.

"I don't believe I've seen you before." The figure said walking.

Cloud readied himself. "Can't say I know who you are either."

The figure came into light. Cloud stopped stunned.

"Sonic?"

The black hedgehog laughed. "No, I'm not Sonic. The name is Shadow."

"What are you doing here?" Cloud slowly reached to his back for the Master Sword.

Shadow smiled. "Repaying a debt you could say." Shadow's eyes snapped wide. He dashed to the edge of the building as Sonic slowly floated up, gripping the Buster Sword.

Sonic stared at Shadow for several moments and then looked to Cloud. "Here," Sonic tossed the sword to Cloud, who caught it with ease. "You do what you need to, I'll take care of Shadow."

Shadow laughed. "I doubt that you will."

Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"You haven't aged a day, I can sense it through your Chaos Emeralds. You traveled through time didn't you?" Shadow smiled.

Sonic was silent. "And?"

Shadow chuckled. "I've lived for the last seven billion years. I've focused my abilities, I've reached a level more powerful than any other wielder of the Chaos Emeralds has reached before."

Sonic floated over the building. "How have you lived this long?"

"The Great Sephiroth has been kind enough to provide this for me."

Sonic landed and fell out of Super mode. "Sephiroth? Why are you working with him? He almost killed you!"

Shadow looked up to the sky. "Sephiroth did try to kill me that day, but he also help me to realize my purpose."

"You're purpose?"

Shadow smiled. "All my life, I've never known why I was created. Sephiroth showed me."

Sonic walked to Shadow. "What did Sephiroth tell you your purpose was?"

Shadow smiled at Sonic. "He didn't tell me anything, he showed me."

"What did he show you?"

Shadow leaned in close to Sonic. "Reunion."

Sonic lifted his head back. "Reunion?"

Cloud tightened his fists.

Shadow took several steps back. "Yes Sonic, through the Reunion I will be able to achieve what I was made for." Shadow turned around and looked at Sonic over his shoulder. "So I can enter, The Promised Land."

Cloud scowled. "...What?"

Shadow walked around the roof of the building. "When I enter The Promised Land, I will be able to use my Chaos Control to achieve a new level of power and bring order to the galaxy."

"You can't enter the Promised Land!" Cloud shouted. "Neither can Sephiroth!"

Shadow raised his open palm to Cloud. "Silence."

A shot of energy was released from Shadow's hand that sent Cloud spinning off the building.

Link ran to the edge. "Cloud!"

Cloud then came shooting up past Link. Not by flying, he was actually tossed.

Samus then went spinning through the air surrounded by bright green energy. Samus then uncurled himself and landed perfectly, catching Cloud as he fell. "What's going on here?"

Shadow snarled. "None of you need to be here."

A black gloved hand grabbed the top of the building and Snake pulled himself up. Snake looked around the group assembled. "Looks like fun."

"That's enough." Shadow positioned himself to gain power. "I'm going to end this now."

The building began to shake.

Sonic stared into Shadow's eyes. Sonic's eyes began to get wide and his mouth began to drop. "Everyone get out of here!"

The team stared at Sonic.

"I don't have time, just everyone go!" Sonic readied himself to fight Shadow.

Cloud, Snake, and Samus looked at each other. "We're not leaving you Sonic." Samus took a step forward. "We're with you till the,"

A wave of energy blew from Shadow that shot the team flying off of the building.

Sonic bowed his head and looked back up to Shadow. "Okay, show me what you can do."

Samus looked over to Cloud and Snake as they fell, and at the other blonde haired person he hadn't met. "What I wouldn't give for my spaceship." That's when Samus got the idea. He scanned various menus on his helmet visor. "You gotta be kidding..." Samus selected an icon.

The ground erupted near where the team first appeared in the future and a dull orange object came racing to them. Samus landed on his ship and caught the other three.

Snake looked at the ship. "I thought Sephiroth destroyed it."

Samus patted the ship affectionately. "Sephiroth destroyed the fuel tanks, but the ship contains emergency energy cells. It's currently got about seven billion years of back up energy."

Link smiled and looked around. "What?"

Snake pointed his thumb at Link. "Who's this guy?"

Cloud rested on the ship. "He's one of the last true Hylians on the planet. Goes by the name, Link."

Samus looked at Link. "Yeah, I can kinda see it."

Snake stood up and looked at the building. "Let's go see what's happening."

Shadow shouted as more power came rushing to him. Light began to shoot from him in various directions. "Are you ready for this Sonic?"

Sonic stood straight and crossed his arms. "Whenever you are."

Shadow arched his back and threw his arms outward. Energy shot from the building, the four on Samus's ship had to shield their eyes. The light encompassed the city and shot out to space.

When the lights dimmed, a bright white hedgehog, with long spines that brushed against the floor. "First Super, then Hyper." Shadow slowly lifted his head. "I am now, Mega Shadow."

Sonic had himself braced from the explosion of power. "This kind of power is possible from the Chaos Emeralds?" Sonic stood firm and exploded into Hyper Mode. "I'm sorry for all that you've suffered."

Shadow laughed. "You're sorry? I finally know why I was made."

"No Shadow!" Sonic shouted. "You've been lied to your whole life. Eggman, Sephiroth, they've all lied to you! No one can tell you your destiny, you have to discover it for yourself!"

Shadow sighed. "You don't understand Sonic. I never expected you to." Shadow bent his knees and lowered his body slightly, he then positioned his hands so his left arm extended out to the left, bent at the elbow with the hand out to the left. His right arm he brought over his head with his hand in a loose fist, the two first fingers extended. "It's time to end this."

Sonic nodded and got into a squatting position, he brought his right arm down close to the ground and his left arm bent close to his head. "Let's do it."

There was a calm silence.

The two exploded to each other, a sonic boom was released, and the city shook.

The three on Samus's ship braced against the sonic wave that sounded. "What are gonna do?" Link looked at each of the members.

Samus scanned menus and his ship began to move. "We're letting them fight."

Cloud extended his wing and began to levitate. "I have to go in."

Samus looked up at him. "Cloud?"

"Sephiroth is in there. I have to fight him." Cloud began to float to the building.

Samus's ship moved to Cloud. "What will you be able to do?" Samus opened the hatch of the ship. "We have to find a way to get back to our time. I doubt Shadow is the only who powered up in the last seven billion years. What chance would you stand against Sephiroth?"

Cloud smiled and looked back to Samus. "I"ll find a way." He held up his right hand, the Triforce of Courage shining bright. "I'm destined to beat him." Cloud then flew to the building.

Snake smiled. "He may turn out alright."

Sonic and Shadow stood in the center of the building, grinding their fists together. Lightning cackled off of the two super powered hedgehogs.

"I can help you Shadow." Sonic grunted under the power of Mega Shadow. "You don't have to destroy yourself this way."

Shadow shouted and Sonic was blown to the edge of the building. "You don't get it Sonic. This is my purpose." Shadow readied himself. "You'll not interfere with the Reunion!"

"What Reunion?" Sonic shouted. "What does that mean?"

Shadow charged at Sonic. "We will be together in the Promised Land!" Shadow punched Sonic across the chin, sending him flying through the city. "I will see her again!"

Sonic slowly picked himself up and flew into the air, fleeing from Shadow. "What are you talking about?"

Shadow appeared in front of Sonic. "I will bring order to the world." Shadow lifted his hand and began to collect a sphere of yellow energy. "And we will be together!" Shadow tossed the ball at Sonic. Sonic phased in and out to avoid the sphere, which exploded in the mountains.

"You're speaking nonsense!" Sonic tried to keep up with Shadow's movements. "I don't know what Sephiroth has fed you for the last era but you have to snap out of it." Shadow appeared behind Sonic and grabbed him.

"Silence." Shadow tightened his grip. "This is your end."

Sonic struggled under Shadow's grip. "I'm sorry Shadow." Sonic flexed his upper body and shouted in power. A wave of energy shot Shadow off of Sonic.

Sonic charged at Shadow, entering into a flurry of punches. Shadow dodged them all with ease and knocked Sonic across the city.

"Face it, Sonic." Shadow appeared before him. "You're beaten."

Sonic gasped for breath and bolted high into the sky.

Shadow laughed. "Why do you keep fighting?"

Sonic stopped in the air. "Because I have hope."

Sonic cupped his hands together, pulled them to the side of his body, and began to collect energy. "Shadow!" An bright orb of blue energy appeared in Sonic's hands. "You can change!" Sonic thrust his hands forward and fired a massive wave of blue energy.

Shadow smiled. "Please..." He pulled his arm up and easily batted the energy. The wave changed course and flew off into space.

Sonic watched the last of his energy fly away. "Son of a..." Sonic fell out of Hyper mode and collapsed on top of a building.

Shadow hovered high above the city. "Sonic, you've done well. Always done the right thing your life. But now, you will die." Shadow extended his right arm to Sonic and held his hand up and open. "Get this!" Shadow fired a massive ball of energy from his palm.

"..." Sonic slowly brought himself to his knees. "...For...everlasting peace."

Sonic stood upright and caught the blast.

"What?" Shadow dropped his arm.

Sonic grunted under the power of Shadow's blast. Sonic roared as he kept the energy at bay. "I have to fight! For everlasting peace!" Sonic exploded into Hyper Mode.

Shadow slowly floated back. "I...I can't believe it..."

Sonic shot a blast of energy from beneath the ball that sent it flying back to Shadow. Shadow threw his arms down to knock the ball back to Sonic. "No!"

Sonic grunted under Shadow's power. "Shadow...when you get to the next world, I hope you find Maria." Sonic roared, the ball moved to Shadow. Sonic brought his hand up to his head and gave Shadow a two finger salute. "See ya." Sonic released the full extent of his power and shot the ball at full force to Shadow.

The blast struck Shadow and carried him into space. Shadow struggled on the blast and watched in horror as the Hylian sun drew close.

Sonic watched the light fade in the depths of space. "I'll still try to help you, when we get to the past..." Sonic fell out of Hyper and collapsed on the roof of the building he was on.

"Sonic? You okay?"Snake bent over to pick the half-dead hedgehog.

"Can I have an extra chili dog?" Sonic mumbled in a daze.

Snake smiled and walked back onto the ship. He opened the hatch and climbed inside. "He's alright."

Samus pulled at the controls and flew back to The Center. "Now we wait for Cloud."

Snake sat against a wall. "You think he can stop Sephiroth?"

Samus thought for a moment. "No, but he'll think of something."

Cloud landed on top of The Center, pulled his Buster Sword up and struck at the roof. Nothing, not one crack. Cloud raised his sword and continued to strike, he began to stab at the building, but still nothing. Cloud stood straight and began to fire blasts of magic at the roof.

"I'm coming for you." Cloud stared into the building.

"...It's been a long time Cloud."

Cloud span around aiming his sword.

Sephiroth stood in front of Cloud, wing extended. He looked almost no different from when Cloud had seen him in the crater, but there was a different air around him.

"What have you done?" Cloud held the Buster Sword pointed with both hands. "Why did you do this to these people?"

Sephiroth stood smiling. "I did a great service to these people."

"What service? You killed all the people of Hyrule and made your own race of people." Cloud lowered his sword. "What does this have to do with the Promised Land?"

"I was waiting." Sephiroth said calmly.

"Waiting?"

"For the next bearer of the Triforce of Wisdom. But that person has never come into being."

"But why kill all the Hylians?"

"I realized that the Triforce will only go to one who is a true Hylain. I then kept a control on them."

Cloud almost dropped his sword. "You've killed all the Hylians, and kept only a few around so you would be able to easily know when the Triforce of Wisdom came back?"

Sephiroth smiled. "Brilliant isn't it?"

Cloud was disgusted. "You're a monster."

"I am a god."

"How could you!"

Cloud and Sephiroth both turned to the young Hylain, with a blade of purple energy.

Cloud put his hand out. "Link! Stay back!"

Link stared at Sephiroth with pure hatred. "Cloud...he's the one who killed my people. He has to be punished."

Cloud slowly moved to Link. "Yes, but you're not the one to do it."

Link raised his sword. "I'll kill him." Link raised his sword and ran toward Sephiroth.

Cloud ran after him. "No!"

Link put both hands on the hilt of his beam saber, and shouted as he came into striking range. "Die!"

Sephiroth slowly raised his hand and aimed his hand to Link.

The boy's entire upper torso exploded.

"Link!" Cloud stopped in his tracks and fell to his knees. He pulled his cape over his face to protect himself from the collection of body parts that flew his way.

Sephiroth lowered his hand and smiled. "You see? I am unstoppable now."

Cloud slowly came back to his feet. "No." Cloud reached to his back and pulled out the Master Sword. "I'll avenge everyone you've ever killed."

Sephiroth bowed his head. "If you wish."

Cloud leapt at Sephiroth bearing the Master Sword, Sephiroth lifted his hand and held his palm open to Cloud.

Sephiroth released the same kind of power against Cloud as he did Link, only, a force field protected Cloud from the blast.

Sephiroth pulled back. "What?"

Cloud thrust the Master Sword at Sephiroth, who pulled out his long sword to block. The two then clashed their swords together.

"It won't be that easy Sephiroth." Cloud said from behind the Master Sword. "I will defeat you."

Sephiroth smiled. "Who will you save?"

Cloud pulled the Master Sword back and swung down on Sephiroth who easily blocked. At the same time, Cloud swiped upward with his Buster Sword. Sephiroth leapt above the sword and kicked Cloud back.

"You're not even trying." Cloud said as he stopped himself from moving.

Sephiroth staying in mid air. "I have no reason to. You cannot defeat me."

Cloud pulled his two swords up. "We'll see about that."

The building shook.

The two stared at each other.

"A simple trick." Sephiroth said with a smile.

Cloud looked around. "I didn't do that."

Sephiroth raised an eyebrow.

The building shook again.

The two slowly looked about themselves.

A deep rumbling roar echoed through the city.

Snake looked up. "That's the sound from the crater."

Samus looked around. "Where did Link go?" Samus steered the ship up to the top of The Center to see Cloud and Sephiroth staring each other down.

"Sephiroth," Cloud said looking back to his rival. "What is that?"

Sephiroth slowly looked down the building. "I don't know."

The roar sounded once more, louder than it ever had before.

The ground shook and tore open. Lava erupted from the surface of the planet, and red bolts of lightning destroyed buildings.

"Cloud!"

Cloud turned to see Samus on top of his ship. "Come on!"

Cloud looked to Sephiroth who didn't move from his place. Cloud cursed and leapt onto the ship. "This isn't over Sephiroth!"

Sephiroth smiled. "You're right." Sephiroth lifted from the ground and flew to Cloud.

"Shit." Samus quickly went back into the ship and set it going full power away.

The city crumbled as red bolts of energy shot from the core of the planet.

Cloud looked over the edge of the space ship. "What is that?"

A massive creature emerged from the rubble, it was almost the size of the city itself, had large dark spines covering it's body, and a single eye at it's front. It let out a terrible screech.

"Hang on!" Samus shouted.

Cloud did so as the ship rocketed toward a series of mountains, and as Sephiroth came closer.

Cloud drew the Master Sword to fight Sephiroth as Sephiroth raised his sword to fight.

The massive creature turned its spines upward and released a massive count of red energy bolts into the sky.

"I will not be just a memory." Sephiroth thrust his sword forward and a red bolt of energy shot straight through his chest. Cloud and Sephiroth stared at each other in amazement as Sephiroth slowly deteriorated into ash.

Cloud looked down at the creature that pulled itself up from the planet.

"Cloud!" Samus shouted from the ship. "Get in here!"

Cloud slowly opened the hatch and crawled inside.

Cloud sat down and sighed heavily.

"Now what?" Snake asked from behind Samus' chair.

"We have to find a way to our time." Samus said pressing various controls.

The creature roared again, and a bright blue portal ripped open in front of them.

Sonic slowly opened his eyes. "I can't eat that much cake..."

The ship was sucked into the portal and was taken away from this bleak future.


	18. Chapter 18

1Chapter eighteen: The End of Time

Samus's ship rocketed out of the portal and soared through a world of swirling darkness. The ship continued on for a long time before Samus stopped it and set it to hover.

The team all sat silently as they tried to figure things out.

"What was that?" Snake said after a while.

Samus leaned back and sighed. "It was the future version of Hyrule."

"A possible future." Cloud snapped.

Snake and Samus turned to him.

"Obviously, if there is the possibility for time travel why can't we change what has happened?" Cloud leaned forward. "We go back in time, stop Sephiroth from killing Link, he would never get the Triforce of Power and things would be better."

"No." Samus slowly leaned forward and bowed his head.

Cloud moved forward on his knee. "This can work Samus!"

"No it can't Cloud." Samus lifted his head up. "First off all, we don't even know how we traveled through time. Not only that, but we could destroy the very fabric of the universe if we were to abuse the time stream to much."

Cloud was silent.

"And why stop with him killing Link?" Snake moved forward. "Why not stop him from burning down your hometown?" Cloud slowly turned to Snake. "Or, why not stop him from joining that army you talked about, or how about we stop him from being born? If we do one thing we would want to do another. Samus is right, we would abuse it."

Cloud bowed his head. "You're right."

For a while nothing was said.

"Hey Cloud." Samus finally said. "What happened to you?"

Cloud looked up at Samus. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, when we put the master sword back, we left the temple and you were gone. What did you do? Where'd you get this power?"

Cloud leaned back. "It's hard to say."

"..By the Sword of Evil's Bane you will pay."

Cloud walked up to the Master Sword, grabbed it's hilt, and removed it.

A pillar of blue light surrounded Cloud. He looked around in wonder as he was lifted up off of the ground, he then shielded his eyes from a bright flash and was in a large open blue space. He stood on a round pedestal and eight platforms surrounded him.

"Welcome, hero." Said a voice.

Cloud looked up at one of the pedestals. An old man dressed in golden robes stood before him. "Where am I?"

"You are in the Land of the Sages." The old man bowed. "I am Rauru."

"The Land of the Sages?"

"Excuse me. You may be more familiar with it if I were to call it The Land of the Ancients, or The Promised Land."

Cloud's mouth dropped. "What?"

"I assure you that I am correct."

Cloud looked around in wonder. "Impossible."

"There have only been two living people to come to this place. You, and the Hero of Time. You called him, Link."

Cloud looked up.

"What would normally happen now is that you would have to search for the other ancients, gain their power, and gain the Triforce of Courage."

"Me? I need to get the Triforce?"

"Usually yes, but this time is different. You see, the natural order has been disrupted. What was to happen is that the Hero of Time would collect the power of the Sages, defeat the Wizard Ganondorf, and the hero and the final sage, Princess Zelda, would then seal Ganondorf in the land of the sages. But that has changed."

"Yes, Sephiroth killed Ganondorf and Link."

Rauru raised an eyebrow. "Indeed. As I was saying, things have changed and now the hero has been killed and the Triforce has been broken. With two pieces being scattered, the Triforce of Courage and Wisdom need a place to rest,"

"Power."

"Hmm?"

"The Triforce of Power, Courage and Power are the ones that have been taken."

"Oh yes I forgot to mention, time moves differently in this place. In the world outside Zelda has been slain. Excuse me." Rauru moved his hand up. "There we are."

"What do you mean Zelda is slain?"

"The villain Sephiroth has killed her."

Cloud wore an expression of both shock and rage.

"I have reset the time in this place, now things move slower in the real world. Now you must listen, I will give you the power of the Triforce of Courage, but that will not be enough to defeat this Sephiroth in his current form. The Sages will grant you all the power we have to aid you in this battle, but once the threat is gone, the power will leave and the world will go once again to it's natural order." Rauru lifted his hands. "Are you prepared for this?"

Cloud nodded. A rainbow of light fell on Cloud, he lifted into the air and gasped as power went running into him. He fell to the ground and breathed deeply. "Is that all?"

Rauru shook his head. "In this extreme situation, we will also grant you items to help you in this quest." The red cape appeared around Cloud. "The Roc's Cape, allowing the power of flight." The gold gauntlet appeared on Cloud's hand. "The Power Glove, giving you unending strength." Cloud grunted as the black wing came from his back. "That is the seal between you and these powers. Should you try to keep these when we call for them, the darkness in you now will grow more powerful, and soon you will be nothing more than that which you vow to destroy. Do you accept these?" Cloud nodded. Rauru smiled. "You are strong, you are brave, but you still have much to learn. You have traveled farther than any hero we have ever seen. Rauru lifted his hands to the air. The Master Sword lowered from the sky and floated above Cloud. "You are now, the Hero of Worlds."

Cloud grabbed the Master Sword as an image of the Triforce appeared on his hand.

"So, am I ready to fight Sephiroth?"

"First, you must watch what has happened to your friends during your absence."

Cloud watched an image of what had happened, he was sent to the Master Sword room right after he saw Sephiroth steal of the Triforce of Wisdom. He sat on the pedestal. The doors opened and Sephiroth walked inside.

Cloud smiled. "What took you so long?"


	19. Chapter 19

1Chapter Nineteen: Back in Time.

"So that's where the wing comes from." Sonic said sitting up. "Oh and, where are we?"

Samus turned to the main window. "My guess is we went through time somehow again but I don't know where we went."

"Well, why don't we just go back in time?" Sonic rubbed his head.

"I don't know how." Samus looked at various controls.

"Hey Samus." Snake moved beside Samus. "What happened on Zebes?"

Samus turned. "What do you mean?"

"Well, what happened to Sonic, where did that power you had come from?"

Samus sighed. "When I went to fight Mother Brain...she tried to use you as shields so I wouldn't attack her. She threatened to destroy your minds if I attacked her."

"So, why did she try to destroy my mind then?" Sonic asked.

Samus was silent.

"Oh..." Sonic's eyes widened.

"I didn't care about any of you then." Samus turned his head. "When I had thought I defeated Mother Brain, she came back stronger and almost killed me...when I was saved."

"By what?" Snake lowered his eyebrows.

"The metroid hatchling. The one that thought I was it's...parent."

Sonic rubbed his head. "You were saved by a Metroid?"

"The hatching latched onto Mother Brain and drained all of her energy out...and gave it to me. Mother Brain came back and...and she killed the hatchling."

Sonic and Snake looked at each other.

"The metroid gave its life to save me." Neither Snake or Sonic were sure if Samus was crying.

"Hey, Samus," Sonic leaned to Samus.

"I've always been alone, never had any friends...never saw a need for them. That was why I would have let Mother Brain kill you. But the metroid showed me something, compassion, friendship, love. I knew what I had been missing. I knew I had to fight for you, and for the metroid."

Sonic walked up and hugged Samus, startling him. Samus soon gave in and put his non-gun-arm around Sonic.

"Now." Said Sonic. "Let's find a way to get back."

Samus turned to his controls. "I have no idea." Samus pushed some more buttons. "That's it!"

Snake leaned forward. "What is it?"

"Some of the energy from the portal we were in has merged with the power cells, my ship has become some form of time machine."

Cloud leaned forward. "So, let's go back to our time."

Samus sighed. "I don't know how."

Sonic chuckled. "Have you tried going eighty-eight miles per hour?"

The team all turned around and gazed at Sonic. Sonic smiled and shrugged.

Suddenly, there was a bright flash and the team all looked out to where an old man in blue robes looked around curiously. Samus flew the ship down to him. The old man looked startled at the ship, and even more so as Samus appeared from the top of it.

"How did you get here?" Samus shouted.

The old man looked around. "I was sent here by force, who are you, what kind of ship is that?"

"My name is Samus Aran, I and my teammates came here on accident, do you know how to get out?"

"Is that a time machine of some kind?"

Samus searched for words. "Sort of, we don't know how to make it go through time though."

The old man smiled. "Maybe I can help, my name is Gaspar the Guru of Time."

Samus brought Gaspar into the ship. Gaspar looked at the controls, made some adjustments, made a new control panel, and declared it ready.

"Though, you only have enough power to travel through time once. So I suggest you go to where it is most important."

Samus smiled and nodded. "Yeah, we're going home. You're welcome to come with us."

Gaspar thought. "No, my time is much farther back than where you would go, besides, I can grow to like this place."

Samus shook Gaspars hand and closed the hatch of his ship.

Samus pressed some buttons and power began to surge through the ship. He then grasped the controls. "20XX here we come!"

Electricity surged through the ship and they appeared above the crater from where Meteor struck Hyrule. Cloud grabbed the Master Sword. "I want to finish this."

Samus nodded and slowly put the ship down. The team then jumped out and ran to the crater.

"Remember!" Shouted Sonic. "Stay away from all swirling portals!"

They jumped into the crater and landed on a platform near the rock where they had stood earlier when they were sucked through time. The rock was gone, but Sephiroth moved closer to the life stream. Cloud slowly lifted into the air. He turned to the other last three members of the team. "Thanks, for everything you've done." Cloud then shot at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth lifted his hands, the life stream came flowing toward him. And at that time, Cloud slashed at Sephiroth's back with the Master Sword cutting him deeply. Sephiroth shouted as the life stream drew back.

Sephiroth turned quickly and was surprised to see Cloud. Sephiroth pulled out his long sword and prepared to fight.

The two charged at each other and began to clash swords together violently.

"How did you get back?" Sephiroth asked casually during the fight.

Cloud smiled as he attacked with both his Buster Sword and Master Sword. "I never really left."

A deep gurgling roar filled the area. Cloud looked down alarmed as the universe tearing sound appeared again.

"Cloud!" Samus shouted. "Get out of there!"

Cloud looked at the team and then at Sephiroth. He flew back to the team when Sephiroth grabbed his leg and threw him at the vortex.

A bright yellow blur shot at Cloud. Sephiroth turned around to see Hyper Sonic holding Cloud.

"You're still weak from summoning Meteor aren't you?" Hyper Sonic smiled. He held out his open palm at Sephiroth. "Me? I had a nice long nap." Sonic let go of Cloud and rushed at Sephiroth. Sephiroth braced himself for attack but Sonic passed straight through him. Sephiroth turned to see Sonic with the seven chaos emeralds. "These are just dangerous to have lying around." The emeralds flew around Sonic and went into him. "That's all I wanted to do. You can beat him up now Cloud." Sonic smiled and floated over to the rest of the team.

Sephiroth was bewildered. He turned to Cloud as he slashed at him. Sephiroth dodged and looked to the vortex. Sephiroth dashed for the time hole and Cloud chased after him. Sephiroth this time though did not trick Cloud into going into it, Sephiroth lunged into the hole as it closed.

Cloud slashed at the air where Sephiroth was. After a moment or so he composed himself and flew to the rest of the team.

"Don't worry, we'll get him." Snake said as Sonic carried him out of the crater.

The team arrived on the barren ground of Hyrule and Samus created a teleport that sent them back to Dr. Light's


	20. Chapter 20

1Chapter twenty: Back to the battle.

The team arrived in Dr. Light's laboratory and looked around as no one was seen. They walked around a little bit, when Otacon came into the room and looked up at the team surprised.

"Hey, you're back!" Otacon ran up to the team. "What happened on Hyrule? Oh, Cloud. It's good to see you again." Otacon then looked concerned. "Where's Megaman?"

Otacon, Aya, Dr. Light, and Roll all gathered in the main room of the house. Samus told the story of what happened on Hyrule, the death of Megaman, and their trip to the future.

Tears welled in Roll's eyes. "Rock is gone?" She leaned her head onto Dr. Light's shoulder. Light put his arms around the robot girl and sighed.

Otacon stood up. "You, you actually traveled through time?"

Sonic nodded. "Yep."

Otacon walked around the room a bit. "Well, why don't we find a safe place to go and we can find out our next move."

"No."

The team looked up at Samus.

"How long as this fight been going on?" Samus looked around at the team.

The team thought for a moment.

"Snake, Sonic, you've been in this fight longer than me or Cloud." Samus looked at Snake. "When did Sonic first come through a teleport to you?"

Snake thought. "Maybe four days ago."

Samus chuckled. "Exactly. Not even a week has passed and look what has happened. We've lost two teammates, an entire world has been destroyed, and look how powerful the enemy has become. I want this fight done. I say we go and attack them head on, right now."

The team was silent.

Samus bowed his head. "It was said already, but we have to fight. For everlasting peace."

The team stood up.

"What do we do first?" Cloud asked.

Sonic shrugged. "Why not go after Dr. Wily first. I mean, he's what, across the street?"

The team talked together for a while. Finally Snake spoke alone.

"This is the plan. First, we go to Dr. Wily's fortress, get him to tell us where the others are, then we take the fight to them. We go, fight whoever is there, and take out Eve."

"You'll need me." Aya stood up in front of the team. "I'm the only one who can fight Eve."

Snake nodded. "Alright, we take out Wily first, then we grab Aya and head to wherever Eve is."

The team nodded.

"Let's go." Sonic smiled.

Dr. Light slowly stood. "Please, don't do to much harm to Dr. Wily. He's still a man."

Samus nodded and fired a teleport. The team walked through it and appeared outside of Dr. Wily's old base. It was not in ruins as one would expect from when Zero destroyed it. It was back up, and fully operational.

They wasted no time getting in. Cloud pulled back is buster sword and struck at the large metal door tearing it out of the walls. As that happened, red alarm lights flared through the base and hundreds of black armored guards entered and pointed complex rifles at the team. Then, the sound of applause could be heard from the back of the soldiers.

The team looked up over the top of the guards to see who was clapping.

"Well done." Said a voice.

Snake snapped up his gun. "Liquid."

A man wearing a long brown coat and no shirt made his way to the front of the soldiers. Samus, Sonic, and Cloud were startled at the appearance of the man. Save for his long blonde hair, he looked like Snake in every way.

"I have no admit I didn't think you'd do it brother." Liquid crossed his arms.

"What happened?" Snake moved the sight of his gun closer to his eye. "You were in Ocelot's body."

Liquid smiled. "Yes, funny thing. The good doctor gave me an offer I couldn't refuse."

"Wily?"

"Yes. He took my arm and created a new body for it. Better, faster, stronger. The genes of Big Boss are now fused with machine."

Cloud lifted his Buster Sword. "We don't have time for this. Snake, you take care of Liquid." Cloud lifted into the air and soared at the guards. Samus and Sonic followed behind.

Liquid and Snake gazed at each other for a moment before running across the room.

Samus scanned one of the guards and smiled. "They're machine, we can destroy them easier." Samus fired a super missile into the fray of guards destroying several at once. Cloud lunged his sword through the robots taking out many at a time, and Sonic slashed his way through the guards quickly. Soon, there were none left. Sonic looked back at Snake as he fought Liquid. Sonic ran to catch up with the other two.

Sonic, Samus, and Cloud ran up the steps and into the room where they first met Bass.

"Okay, where did we go from here?" Sonic asked.

Samus moved to a skull shaped doorway. "We went into this teleport. But who knows where it would take us now."

Cloud stood in front of it. "Do we have a choice?"

Cloud and Samus looked at each other.

"Uh...guys..." Sonic uttered, with a severe sense of urgency in his voice.

Cloud and Samus turned around and saw a man standing in the doorway they had just come from. He was slightly hunched, his blue skin was tightly bound across his near muscle-less bones, he wore a brown shroud over mouth and shoulders, two limp wings hung from his back, blackish blue hair hung in front of his face, and his yellow eyes shone brightly.

Samus and Cloud ran to the side of Sonic.

"Where'd he come from?" Samus tried to scan the ghastly figure but could find no kind of data on it.

Sonic was still flustered. "I...I...I don't know, he just...phased in out of nowhere."

Cloud stepped forward with his sword in hand. "Who are you?"

The figure looked up at Cloud.

"Can you talk?" Cloud tightened his grip on the sword.

The figure looked at Sonic and Samus. "Who do you work for?"

The three looked at each other. "We don't work for anyone." Samus said. "We're a team trying to save various worlds from being taken over or destroyed."

The figure lifted it's head. "Who is your leader?"

Sonic crossed his arms. "You're asking a lot of questions."

The figure looked down at Sonic. "And how do I know you are not working for Kain?"

The two fighters punched their fists together sending beads of sweat flying from their bodies. They stood in that same pose glaring at each other.

Liquid laughed. "You know you can't win."

Snake said nothing.

"I'm created out of the same material that the red robot is made of, and powered by a similar energy source." Liquid opened his palm and grabbed Snake's hand. Snake grunted as Liquid closed his fist over his hand. "I'm more powerful than you, than Grey Fox, I'm even stronger now than Big Boss himself." A blast was shot into Liquid's stomach sending him across the room. Snake slowly stood straight up with his buster over his hand.

Liquid slowly stood up. "Well done brother."

The buster on Snake's hand shifted down his arm to let his normal hand show. He then ran at Liquid. Liquid stood still. When Snake was still a distance away, Liquid leapt through the air and kicked Snake in the face. Snake toppled to the ground as Liquid landed a couple yards away. "Face it, Snake." Liquid walked to Snake and kneeled down to him. "I'm unstoppable."

Snake grunted, closed his eyes, didn't move, and took a final breath.

"Who's Kain?" Sonic asked. "Is he in this fortress?"

The figure's eyes narrowed. "Now you're the one asking a lot of questions."

Cloud swiped his hand through his hair. "Look, we're busy right now. Do you need something?"

The figure looked back at Cloud. "I need you to get out of my way."

Samus put his arms up. "Look, why don't we all just look together. If we find this Kain, we'll help you defeat him."

The figure crossed his arms. "Or perhaps, I just kill you."

Liquid reached over to put his fingers on Snake's neck to check his pulse, when the large barrel of a rocket launcher covered his face. The missile exploded and Snake rolled up and aimed the launcher into the cloud of smoke.

Liquid laughed as his silhouette became clear in the smoke. "You'll have to do better than that."

Snake put his rocket launcher away and aimed his buster arm at the shadow. He quick charged a blast and fired. Liquid leapt through the air and kicked off of a wall as the blast flew across the room. Snake followed the quick moving Liquid around the room firing when he could, each time just missing him.

"Is this the best you can do Snake?" Liquid laughed as he ran along the walls.

Sonic, Cloud, and Samus all readied themselves as the blue figure's eyes became brighter.

"Please, I've had as much of this as I can take."

The four fighters turned to Dr. Wily who stood against a wall.

"You have been debating for god knows how long. You're working for this guy, you're asking to many questions, I'm going to kill you."

The figure looked at the old scientist and then to the team. "You know this old man?"

Samus nodded. "He's the one we're here to fight."

The figure turned again to Dr. Wily who held a remote in his hand.

"Now," Said Wily. "We all know who is going to kill you." Wily pushed the button and a hatch opened from the ceiling. A figure crashed into the ground. "I'll leave you alone to play." Dr. Wily walked to the end of the room as Zero rose up from the debris of his fall.

Sonic smacked his head. "Not again."

The blue figure looked at the team. They were nervous about this creature, they all readied what weapons they had and seemed frightened of the creature. The blue figure slowly walked up to Zero. Zero smiled as he looked up and down the blue man. Zero lunged forward to punch and the blue figure easily dodged. The blue man then put his three clawed hand against Zero's chest and ignited a green blade of swirling energy from his palm. Zero's eyes widened and it looked down and looked up shocked at the blue figure. The blade glowed brightly and a blast of energy from the sword filled Zero and vaporized him.

The blue figure turned around and looked at the team. "That creature gave you trouble?"

Snake fell to his knees taking deep breaths. Liquid then kicked Snake on the chin and sent him flying through the air.

"I'm disappointed in you Snake." Liquid crossed his arms and slowly walked to the beaten body of Snake. "All these times you've destroyed the Metal Gear's, even having killed Big Boss, and yet you cannot defeat me." Liquid kicked Snake in the stomach. "What about your dominate genes?" Liquid kicked Snake again.

Snake slowly picked himself back up.

"I have to admit, I figured Dr. Wily was some crazy old man. All those robots and he couldn't defeat one small blue machine." Liquid looked at his body. "But he built this one great machine. Almost better than the Metal Gear Chaos."

Snakes eyes widened. He remembered something Megaman had said before. All Wily machines have a single weakness, and that weakness revolves around one of the stolen powers he got during his adventures. Snake rolled to the side of Liquid and fired a beam of electricity at him. The electricity sparked off of Liquid's body. Liquid looked curiously at Snake. Snake didn't know what all powers his megabuster had but now was a good time to find out.

Snake stood and fired a wave of fire at Liquid to no effect. Liquid now realized what Snake was trying and ran after him. Snake ran from Liquid while firing other attacks, he fired large ice blasts, made shields to defend himself with, even tried shooting leaves at Liquid but nothing worked. Snake had been forced into a corner.

"Well done Snake." Liquid slowly walked toward him. "Using the old enemy weakness trick. To bad that I don't have one. As I said, I was made from the same materials as the Zero robot. I have no weaknesses."

Snake had one power left and at that moment, he realized it would work. Snake aimed his buster at Liquid and fired the weapon. Liquid stopped in his tracks.

Snake painfully smiled. "There was one thing that worked on Zero." Snake lifted his arm up, and Liquid was lifted into the air. "This power came from an old Wily bot named Gravity Man." The buster on Snake's arm shifted so his hand was visible. He slowly closed his fist, and Liquid slowly was pushed together. "And we one time stopped Zero, by using a gun that manipulated gravity. It wasn't as powerful as this though." Snake closed his hand more.

Liquid grunted as his mechanical body crumbled. "Snake...I'll come back, even if you destroy every piece of me I'll come back."

Snake smiled. "I'll be waiting."

Liquid collapsed into almost nothing under the sheer force of the gravity. Snake picked up the small piece of metal and placed in a compartment on his belt. He then sat down against a wall, lit a cigarette, took a long drag on it, and exhaled a cloud of smoke.

"He...he just destroyed Zero." Sonic looked up wildly at the blue man.

The blue figure looked to Dr. Wily who was stopped dead in his tracks a step away from the teleporter. The figure dashed at Wily and lifted him into the air.

"Where is Kain?" The figure shouted.

"Leave him alone!" Samus pointed his gun at the man.

Dr. Wily struggled under the grasp of the man. "I...I don't know anyone named Kain!"

The figure narrowed his eyes. He ignited his blade and ran it through the chest of Wily.

Cloud flew at the figure and cut through him with his Buster Sword. The body of Dr. Wily and the two pieces of the blue man fell to the ground. Dr. Wily's body hit the ground with a thud, but the blue man's body evaporated in green light.

Samus knelt over the body of Dr. Wily. "Now how are we going to find Eve?"

Electricity cackled from Wily's chest. Samus turned the body over to find that it was robot.

"So that's why you're here." Wily's voice said through a series of speakers. A computer screen with an image of Dr. Wily came from the ceiling. "You may have defeated Zero, but can you handle this?" A hatch opened from the ceiling a mass of yellow goo fell to the ground. It collected itself into a large human shape, and a bright red eye opened on it's front. Cloud then leapt into the air, stabbed his sword into the eye, slashed his sword upward and then brought his sword down through the whole body of the yellow devil. The behemoth exploded and turned to ash.

Dr. Wily's mouth dropped. Samus scanned the room and fired a missile at one of the walls. Inside of the hole that appeared Dr. Wily looked amazed as Samus pulled him away from his computers. Samus held him up by his coat. "Where are the other villains?"

Dr. Wily smiled. "I'll never tell you anything. You won't do anything to hurt me."

Samus tossed Wily against a wall and pointed his gun arm at his head. "Tell us where they are!"

Wily smiled. "Go ahead, do it. Kill a normal living man."

"Uh...Samus." Sonic nudged Samus's leg and Samus turned to see the blue skinned man standing perfectly well behind him.

The blue man held his open palm out at Samus and a force tossed him across the room and the blue man caught Wily with his other hand.

Wily nervously smiled. "You knew the other was a machine, or you wouldn't have tried to kill me."

The blue man's eyes narrowed. He turned his head slightly to look at Cloud who had his Buster Sword at his neck.

"Don't kill him." Cloud pressed the sword closer. "We need him alive."

The blue man tossed Wily across the room. Sonic dashed to catch him and held onto him tightly. The blue man turned to face Cloud face to face.

"I don't know what you are," Cloud got into his fighting stance. "But you can't mess this up for us."

The blue man said nothing. "I am trying to find Kain." He said finally.

"I don't know who that is."

"He has been working with another powerful wizard. Supplying him with an army."

"Then why did you come to Dr. Wily?"

"I didn't come here. I was sent. I followed Kain through a teleport and I was sent here."

"Is Kain a wizard?"

"That is no concern of yours. Do you know where Kain is?"

"I don't know who Kain is, I don't know who you are. Can you say your name?"

The figure was silent for a moment. "I am Raziel."

"How did you come back after I killed you?"

"You didn't kill me."

Sonic dragged Wily with him as he walked to Cloud and Raziel. "Okay, you guys are just getting no where." Sonic looked up at Raziel. "Is Kain evil?"

"I have sworn vengeance on him."

"Okay, good enough. Look, you help us find our enemies, we'll help you find Kain. If he's working with a powerful wizard, who knows, maybe the wizard is working for Eve." Sonic shrugged. He then looked down at Wily. "Now, where is Eve?"

Wily smiled.

"Okay, uh...Raziel right? See if you can't get some answers out of him." Sonic held Wily up in front of Raziel. Raziel's eyes glowed brightly.

Wily broke. "Fine, I'll give you the location of their base!"

Sonic put Wily down. "See, was that so hard?"

Samus got back up and joined the team and logged the data Wily gave him so they could teleport right to them.

Samus fired a teleport. "Let's head to Dr. Light's first, pick up Aya and then be off to Eve's."

Sonic tugged at Wily. "Let's drop him off at Dr. Light's first."

Raziel gazed down at Wily. "No, I've got a better plan for this man."

The three looked at Raziel. Raziel grabbed Dr. Wily by the front of his shirt and held him into the air.

Cloud took a step forward. "What are you doing?"

Dr. Wily looked wildly between Cloud and Raziel.

Raziel's eyes glowed bright, he grabbed at the shroud around his mouth and pulled it down revealing a jawless mouth with a row of upper teeth that had a pair of fangs. Dr. Wily gasped as he suddenly fell limp. Raziel put his shroud back and tossed Wily back at the team. Cloud held Wily's lifeless body and looked up at Raziel.

"What did you do?" Cloud scowled.

"I merely took his soul." Raziel shrugged.

Sonic look appalled. "What did you do with it?"

"That doesn't matter."

Samus right in front of Raziel and stared down at him. "Why did you kill him?"

Raziel leaned forward to seem taller than Samus. "It's what I do."

"Why Wily?" Samus shouted. "You didn't care about him!"

Raziel shrugged. "You were done with him, so I took his soul. When I came back after being destroyed by the human with the sword, I spent energy to get back. I needed to get that energy back. So I took this man's soul."

"We needed him!" Cloud grabbed Raziel by his shroud and lifted him into the air. "If he lied about the location of Eve we needed to get the right location from him."

"I don't care." Raziel threw his hands out and a deafening boom filled the room. The force of the sound knocked the ream back and Raziel landed on his clawed feet.

Cloud span around and stabbed his Buster Sword into Raziel's chest. Raziel look down at the large sword and then up at Cloud. Raziel leapt into the air with the sword still in his chest. He pulled out the sword and threw it at Cloud. Cloud caught the sword easily and leapt into the air and cut through Raziel down the middle of his body. Raziel evaporated in green light and Cloud landed on his feet.

Snake ran up the stairs. "What was that sound?"

Sonic rubbed his finger in his ear. "Some demon thing created it. But Cloud killed it."

"No I didn't." The team looked up at Cloud and then looked ahead as the creature phased in from nothing and stood before them.

Raziel held his hand out. "Try again?"

Samus repeatedly fired energy shots into Raziel's chest and head. Soon only a smoldering corpse laid on the ground. The body evaporated in green light.

Sonic pointed at the ground. "It did the light thing again, he's going to come back!"

Sure enough, a moment later Raziel phased in from thin air.

Cloud pointed his sword at Raziel. "What are you?"

Raziel didn't move. "That doesn't matter."

Samus armed his gun with missiles. "Tell us now!"

Raziel threw his hand into the air and a light as bright as the sun filled the area.

The team covered their eyes and when the light faded Raziel was nowhere.

Snake was then hit across the room. The team turned and attack at Raziel. Raziel ran around the attacks and grabbed Sonic's face. He lifted Sonic into the air and rammed his head into the ground. Raziel then swiped Samus's feet throwing him backward. Raziel then jumped on Samus's chest and grabbed under his helmet. Raziel then tossed Samus into the air and smashed him into a wall. Raziel then ran at Cloud. Cloud slashed at Raziel who easily dodged his attacks. Raziel kicked Cloud in the chin then punched him in the chest. Raziel placed his clawed foot on Cloud's neck and leaned in to see him face to face.

"You help me find Kain."

Cloud scowled. Raziel began to cut into Cloud's neck with his foot.

"I will help you find your, Eve. Then, we find Kain."

Raziel lifted his foot up and let Cloud stand.

Cloud coughed and rubbed his neck. "Just one thing."

Raziel looked at Cloud.

"You ask, before you take any other souls."

Raziel chuckled. "I can accept that."

Cloud and Raziel shook hands.

End Part III

To Be Concluded.


	21. Chapter 21

1Chapter twenty-one: Showdown

The team appeared in Dr. Light's house. Roll jumped up to meet them and shrieked in horror at Raziel. Otacon and Aya came running in and were shocked at the ghastly site of the new member of the team.

Cloud stood in front. "This is Raziel. He's agreed to help us find Eve, if we help him find his enemy named Kain."

"What happened at Wily's?" Dr. Light asked concerned.

The team was quiet for a moment.

"I took the old man's soul." Raziel said bluntly.

Dr. Light was shocked and horrified. "You what?"

"That is what I do." Raziel shrugged his shoulders.

Sonic smiled nervously. "He agreed not to while he helps us."

Dr. Light was horrified.

"We need to get going." Samus stepped forward. "Aya, if you would like to come with us."

Aya nodded.

Cloud glared at Raziel. "Let's just hope the data Wily gave us was right."

Raziel narrowed his eyes.

Samus walked outside and fired a teleport. The team walked through unsure of what was coming.

The team arrived outside of a large city, on a harbor. The team looked around to get a feel for their surroundings. It was night and the lights from the city shone brightly.

"Anyone know where this is?" Cloud asked.

Snake nodded. "Yeah, this is my planet."

"Mine too." Snake looked at Aya. "It's New York City."

"Then where's Eve?" Samus scanned the various buildings.

Aya thought for a moment. "Seven years ago when I destroyed Eve, we fought near here, and I faced the Ultimate Being on a battleship out on the water."

Sonic nodded. "I see."

Samus turned to Aya. "Where did you fight Eve?"

Aya looked to the water. "It was out there, on Liberty Island."

Sonic pointed to the water. "Is that statue supposed to be like that?"

The team turned and looked out to a small island. On the island stood an enormous green metal statue in the form of a robed woman holding a torch into the air. But that wasn't what the team was looking at, they were looking at the strange purple ooz that was surrounding the island and moving up the statue.

Aya ran to the edge of the dock. "It's happening again."

"Aya!" The team turned to see a Japanese man in glasses running up to them.

Aya ran down the dock to meet him. "Maeda! What are you doing here?"

"I came back from Japan when I heard about what was happening. Eve's back."

Aya nodded. "Yeah I know." Aya looked back to the statue. "And she's going to try and bring back the Ultimate Being."

Cloud moved up to Aya. "How do we stop her?"

"You don't. I do." Aya turned to Maeda. "Do you have any of those bullets with my cells in them, just in case?"

Maeda nodded. "Yeah, oh and take these." Maeda reached into his pocket and pulled out a clip of ammunition and various charms. "Just in case." Maeda smiled. "Oh, and Daniel wanted me to bring this to you." Maeda reached into a bag he was carrying and pulled out a powerful automatic rifle. "It's the gun you made seven years ago."

Aya took the gun and loaded it. "Thanks."

A helicopter came down and landed next to the team.

Maeda shouted to be heard over the helicopter. "He's going to take you to the island to fight Eve."

Aya nodded and climbed into the helicopter. She looked down at the team as it lifted into the air. It looked like she said something like thanks.

Cloud lifted into the air. "We have to help her."

Samus walked to Cloud. "We can't, she's the only one who can fight Eve. There's a story behind it but just trust us."

Maeda looked up at Cloud. "She's already defeated Eve and the Ultimate Being before." He looked around at the team. "And how do you know Aya anyway?"

"We rescued Aya from a villain base, they were using her cells so they could be near Eve." Sonic said. "Well, Raziel didn't."

Maeda looked up at Raziel with wonder. "Where did you people come from?" He asked with a tone of amazement.

Suddenly, Aya's helicopter blew up.

Before a word could be spoken, Cloud flew to the water and snatched Aya out of it. He floated into the air carrying her in his arms when Ridley met him in the air. The dragon screeched loudly. Cloud held his hand out at the beast and a powerful explosion of green energy surrounded it. The dragon fell to the water.

Aya slowly came to. "What?"

"That dragon destroyed your helicopter. Can you still fight?"

Aya nodded. "Though I may be a bit rusty."

Cloud looked to the island that held the large statue. He flew and landed on the ground which was covered in purple ooz. He placed Aya down as a figure floated down. The figure was a naked woman with red hair that stretched down well past her feet that ended in what appeared to be hands, her actual arms were normal until the elbow when they became plump and blue, she had several small blue appendages coming from her back that resembled crab legs, and large veins that covered her upper legs and waist.

Aya pointed her gun at the creature. The woman laughed. "Eve!" Aya shouted. "How did you come back?"

Eve looked confused. "Come back from where?"

"I killed you, right here seven years ago!"

Eve floated down closer to Aya. "I never left, I was brought here."

Cloud began to feel himself get warm. He looked down at his arms as the heat reached his skin his arms erupted in flames. Cloud looked shocked and worried at his arms as the flame spread around his body.

Aya turned to him. "Get out of here, now!"

Cloud quickly leapt into the water and flew through the water until he was a long

distance away from Eve and Aya. He lifted out of the water and looked back at the island.

"What do you mean you were brought here?" Aya looked again at Eve.

Eve looked up and thought. "It was maybe two days after I had my awakening. A man came to me, he told me I could attain power for the Ultimate Being far from what I could get from the people of this planet."

"You're not the one leading the villains?"

Eve laughed. "No, but he asked that it look that way."

"Then, who was in charge?"

Cloud floated back to the team.

"You caught on fire didn't you?" Sonic asked.

Cloud looked down at him and then to the island.

"What happened to the helicopter?" Snake asked.

Cloud looked at the water. "That dragon blew it up."

Samus moved forward. "Ridley?"

Cloud nodded. "I took care of it."

Ridley hovered over the team and screeched.

Maeda slowly backed up. "I should go and uh..." He then ran away.

Samus pointed his gun at Ridley. "You can't win this Ridley."

The dragon made a sound like laughter.

Another metal dragon that looked like Ridley hovered near the original, then another, and another, and more. There were maybe a dozen robot dragons that now surrounded the team.

The team looked around the dragons, looked at each other, and then attacked.

Samus shot into the air and fired his super missiles at the dragons, Cloud flew into the air and bashed the dragons with his Buster Sword, Snake fired at the robots with his buster, Sonic jumped into the air, curled into a ball, and pinballed between the dragons. No one knew exactly what Raziel would do. He jumped, grabbed one of the dragons by the neck, pulled it to the ground, and dug into it with his claws and gutted it's mechanical insides throwing pieces all over the place. The robot lay motionless on the dock and Raziel looked up to another. He moved his

hand to the water, a large wave in the shape of the column lifted and smashed into a robot destroying it.

Sonic was bouncing on top of a dragon robot when he saw Raziel destroy one of the machines. Sonic was distracted for a moment and he hit an awkward corner of the dragon and the dragon fired a blast of energy that sent him flying away.

Aya ran around in a circle firing at Eve who would swing down at various times and slash her hair hands at Aya. Aya dodged and fired her automatic rifle with bullets that seemed to explode on contact.

Aya turned to the water as the sound of Sonic screaming became louder. Sonic skipped along the water, tumbled onto the solid ground, rolled onto his feet, and began dusting his arms. He looked up at the two fighting women. "Aya, Eve." He said casually.

Aya was going to yell at Sonic to leave when she noticed something, he wasn't starting on fire. "Sonic..." She said slowly.

Sonic looked up at Aya when Eve slowly floated down to him. "He does not burn. He is like us."

Sonic slowly backed up. "Uh...I should probably..." Sonic gazed at Eve. "Huh..." He then turned to Aya. He then looked back at Eve. "I've never seen a human naked before." He looked Eve up and down. "It's pretty gross." He turned back to Aya. "I should probably get back." And Sonic was gone.

Samus smashed his gun arm into actual Ridley's face and held him to the ground. The various pieces of all the Mecha-Ridley's were scattered everywhere when Sonic came back.

"Did I miss anything?" Sonic said looking over the debris.

Snake kicked one of the robots. "For some reason these robots all had an actual living animal trapped inside."

Sonic sighed. "Eggman, when will you learn?"

Cloud kneeled down to Ridley. "Other than you and Eve, is there anyone else you were teamed with?"

Ridley growled.

Cloud pointed his Buster Sword at Ridley's stomach. "Was there anyone else?"

The dragon made a sound like laughter.

Cloud stabbed his sword into the dragon's stomach.

The dragon still laughed.

Samus sighed. "That won't work. Ridley won't tell us anything."

"Then may I take it?" Raziel appeared suddenly behind Cloud.

Cloud looked down at Samus. Samus shrugged. "I would just kill him."

Cloud sighed and nodded his head to Raziel. Raziel kneeled down to Ridley and opened his shroud. Ridley's eyes glowed brightly and his mouth opened, a bright light shone from the dragon's throat and fire shot out at Raziel. Raziel rolled away from the fire and dug his claw into Ridley's stomach.

The team looked over a bright light flashed from where Aya fought Eve.

Aya shielded her eyes from the bright light and Eve slashed her stomach with her hair hand. Aya aimed at Eve and fired rapidly. Eve wobbled in the air and crashed into the ground. Aya pointed her gun at Eve's head. "Where do I find the real leader?"

Eve looked up and had a worried smile, she then began to melt into the ooz on the ground.

Aya stared at the puddle then lifted her gun up. "Hope I never have to do that again."

Sonic came running to Aya. "What happened, did you beat Eve?"

Aya nodded. "Though she said she wasn't in charge."

Sonic looked at the bubbling goop. "Then, who was?" Sonic looked back to where the team was. "Let's get back there." Sonic carried Aya and ran to the dock.

Aya stood in front of the team and surrounded by various robot dragon pieces. "What happened?"

Raziel pulled his shroud back up and stood away from Ridley's body. Cloud looked back to the massive statue. "What happened to Eve?"

Aya breathed. "I beat her again, but she wasn't in charge."

The whole team looked shocked.

"Then who was?" Cloud held his sword by his side.

Aya thought. "Eve said she was recruited by a man with pale skin and long white hair."

Cloud's eyes snapped wide. "Sephiroth? He was in charge the whole time?"

Aya shook her head. "No, not Sephiroth. She said his name was Kain."

Raziel loomed in front of Aya. "Kain?"

Cloud grabbed Raziel's shoulder and pulled him back. "Did she say where we could find him?"

Aya shook her head. "She died before she could say anything."

Samus nodded his head and looked at the water. He walked to the end of the dock various menus went over his visor. "Aya, have you seen that before?"

Aya walked to the end of the dock and looked out to see a small bubble burst and a deformed, veined, winged baby lifted into the air and cried.

The whole team stared out at the creature. "What is that?" Snake narrowed his eyes and pulled back in disgust.

Aya lifted up her gun. "It's the Ultimate Being."

The team looked at Aya then at the creature.

Sonic pointed to it. "That thing is the Ultimate Being?" He scratched his head.

The winged baby slowly made it's way toward the team.

"Aya," Samus tried to scan the baby. "Can we fight this?"

Aya shook her head. "No, only I can."

"What about me?" Sonic pointed to himself. "I didn't burn up when near Eve, what was that about?"

"I don't know." Aya checked her gun. "But you have to get out of here now."

The team didn't move at first, but Cloud nodded and led the team away.

The baby grabbed the dock and pulled itself up as it cried. Aya pointed her gun at it and fired.

The team got to a far distance from Aya and the Ultimate Being and tried to watch the fight. Snake handed his binoculars around to the others and they all waited to see what would happen.

The baby cried as Aya shot at it. The being fired a colorful ring of energy at Aya that she almost dodged. The ring struck her side and she fell to the ground almost dead. Aya put her hand to her chest and green energy surrounded her. Aya stood back up and fired a the Ultimate Being.

The baby cried as it fell to the ground and exploded in light.

Sonic jumped into the air and cheered. Aya looked back at him and didn't share his happiness. Sonic looked through the binoculars as a creature arrived through the light of the explosion.

It was maybe as tall as Megaman had been, it stood straight up, had two clawed wings coming out of it's back, two spiked leg like things coming out of it's hips, and had a large tentacle that lifted off of its back.

"It has more than one form." Samus nodded.

Sonic thought. "It's just like all of Eggman's final machines."

Samus turned to him. "And like Mother Brian."

Cloud looked at them. "And most of my more powerful enemies."

"When I fought Metal Gear Rex I had to fight it several different times in the same fight, then I had to fight Liquid twice right afterward." Snake slowly lowered the binoculars.

The team looked at each other amazed, took a deep breath, and went back to watching the fight.

Aya fired at the Ultimate Being while dodging various beams it fired. After not to long, the wings separated from the creature and it fell to the ground and began to crawl. The wings flew by themselves and dropped balls of fire that exploded near Aya. Aya dodged the fire and rolled to avoid a large pink beam. Aya then fired her powerful gun at the wings destroying them quickly, she then fired at the Ultimate Being. The Being tossed out it's tentacle and grabbed Aya's leg. It pulled Aya in close to it, but Aya fired a the tentacle making it release her. Aya then stood and fired into the head of the Ultimate Being. Soon, the Ultimate Being exploded again.

Snake looked down at the explosion. "Is it dead this time?"

Out of the explosion stood a tall man like figure. This one floated into the air with it's claw like wing-arms and smashed it's heavy tail into the ground. Aya aimed her gun at the Ultimate Being when it lifted and smashed itself into the ground causing a small earthquake. Aya lost her balance and dropped her gun and the Ultimate Being smacked it away with his tail.

Snake grunted. "She lost her gun!"

Aya looked up at the team and smiled. Light surrounded Aya, she lifted into the air and held her arms out.

Sonic leapt into the air. "She's gonna go Super!"

When the light faded, Aya floated above the ground, she was naked and her skin was a light green color, wings separated from her arms just above the elbow, black line designs went around her body, her hair went not straight up but it did seem to float up by itself, and her eyes shone brightly.

She shot to the Ultimate Being and smashed her wings into it, the Ultimate Being fell to the ground and appeared back up and swiped his claw through Aya. Aya fell back for a moment and went to attack again. The Ultimate Being moved back and summoned dozens of spheres of light that spun around Aya and smashed into her. Aya moved up close to the Ultimate Being where the spheres couldn't hit her and unleashed a powerful array of attacks.

The team watched in awe.

"Did anyone know she could do that?" Sonic pointed at Aya.

The whole team shook their heads.

"Okay, just checking." Sonic looked down at the fight. "Man, humans look weird when Super."

Aya smashed her wing on the Ultimate Being and he fell to the ground and exploded. Aya floated to the ground and waited for what was coming. That's when she remembered. She looked around quickly, she turned to the team and look worried. "I need my gun!"

"It knocked it over there!" Cloud shouted pointed to some boxes stacked together.

Aya quickly moved to the boxes when a large blue green fin struck her and sent her flying against a wall and out of her super mode.

The Ultimate Being looked like nothing it had before. It now had no legs but resembled something like a large floating mermaid. It had large fins instead of hands, two similar wings out of it's back, and it's head was small and kept in a sphere of goo.

Aya slowly got back up and tried to run for her gun. The Ultimate Being tried to strike her and created laser shooting crystals but Aya managed to dodge rather well. Finally she was hit and fell to the ground.

Sonic got up. "I have to go help her."

Samus put his arm across his chest. "You can't fight that thing."

"I'm not gonna fight it, I'm just gonna get her gun for her." And Sonic was off.

Sonic picked up Aya's gun, gave it to her, and helped her stand up.

Aya smiled. "Thanks."

Sonic rubbed his nose. "No problem." He then looked at his finger which was smoking. He looked up as the Ultimate Being came closer. His hand caught fire. "Yeeeeeeow!" He screamed.

Aya pointed to the water. "Hurry!"

Sonic jumped up and down as his other hand caught fire. "I can't swim!"

Aya looked back as the Ultimate Being came closer. "Get back up there!"

Sonic dashed back up to the team and rolled around on the ground to put out he fire. He then stood up and blowed on his hands.

"You caught on fire didn't you?" Cloud asked with a smile.

Sonic looked up and laughed sarcastically.

Aya loaded the ammo Maeda gave her and fired into the belly of The Ultimate Being, the creature drew back and fell to the ground, blood poured out of the bullet wounds.

Aya then thought. "It took a battleship explosion to kill it last time, what do I do now?"

"Are you done with it?"

Aya looked up as Raziel walked out of the shadows. He didn't catch fire.

Raziel looked down at the Ultimate Being as it tried to get back up.

"Why aren't you burning?" Aya looked up and down the wraith.

"You said it activated organisms in bodies to burn people." Raziel ignited his sword. "Everything in me is dead. Are you done with this?"

Aya looked down at the Ultimate Being and slowly nodded.

"Good." Raziel stabbed his swirling energy blade into the Ultimate Being's chest and released a shock of energy that evaporated it into bright green energy. Raziel pulled down his shroud and absorbed the light. His eyes brightly glowed then went back to normal. "Now, how do I find Kain?"


	22. Chapter 22

1Chapter Twenty-Two: The Heroes

The team ran down the hill and found Aya and Raziel standing alone.

Raziel put his hands up. "I asked before I took it."

Cloud glared at Raziel then looked at Aya. "Is that it, is it done?"

Aya nodded.

"Now we find Kain." Raziel walked up to Cloud.

Cloud looked down at Raziel. "We don't know how."

"Then find out how."

Snake put a hand on both Raziel and Cloud and pushed them apart. "If Eve was really working for Kain, I would guess that Kain will try to come after us now. Let's go somewhere and wait for him."

The team then teleported back to Dr. Lights. Otacon stood up and greeted them warmly. "Is that it? Is it done?"

Snake shook his head. "No, Eve wasn't in charge, Kain was."

Otacon pushed up his glasses. "Who's Kain?"

Sonic pointed at Raziel. "His enemy."

Otacon nervously smiled at Raziel. "Oh, okay then. So now what do we do?"

Samus sat down on one of the couches. "We wait for Kain to come to us."

Cloud crossed his arms. "We should do something."

Samus looked up at Cloud. "What can we do? We don't know where Kain is or how to find him."

"No." Cloud raised his head and looked at Samus. "We need to go back to the future."

The team was silent.

"Why?" Sonic asked honestly.

Cloud swiped his hand through his hair. "That...creature that destroyed future Hyrule is still there and it will destroy the better future Hyrule unless we can stop it."

"How is what happens in the future our business?" Raziel asked.

"It's not your business." Cloud put his hand to his chest. "But the future is my responsibility, my enemy destroyed it for that world."

Samus stood. "How would we get to the future? My ship is out of energy."

Cloud moved his hands around the lab. "I'm sure Dr. Light has a way to energize it."

"I'm sorry Cloud," Snake walked to the middle of the room. "But Raziel is right. We won't be there for this future so why does it matter if we save it?"

Cloud was silent. "It's like Megaman said before he died. We have to, for everlasting peace. Peace in the past, the present, and in the future. What if people aren't strong enough to defeat it in the future? Sephiroth brought that thing to Hyrule and now it's our duty to take care of it. I want this done."

Sonic walked up to Cloud. "I'm with you."

"I've heard better speeches." Snake put his hand on Cloud's shoulder. "But I'm in."

Samus nodded. "My ship is the only thing that can take you there."

The team looked at Raziel. Raziel looked up at the ceiling, sighed deeply, and lifted his hands into the air. "Fine, I'll go."

Aya stood next to Cloud. "You'll have to go without me."

Sonic actually looked upset. "Why?"

"I've got to go back to my world, make sure things get taken care of there." Aya smiled. "And I have to make sure Eve is okay."

Every eyebrow in the room went up.

Aya shook her head. "Eve is the name of my daughter, well, clone."

Snake nodded his head. "I get it."

Aya walked up to Snake. "Here, take this." She handed her powerful gun to Snake. "It's one of the most powerful guns ever made."

Snake took the gun and looked over it. "Thanks."

Cloud looked around the room. "Where's Dr. Light?"

"Oh!" Otacon pushed his glasses up. "He's locked in his lab, working on something very secret. I'll get him." Otacon then left the room.

"I've got one question before we go anywhere." Sonic raised his hand. "Why didn't I burn up when I was near Eve but would with the Ultimate Being?"

"You must have the same kind of mitochondria." Aya said to Sonic.

Sonic looked at his hands. "Well, what does that mean?"

Otacon walked back into the room. "Dr. Light is on his way, what were we talking about?"

Snake pointed at Sonic. "He has the same kind of mitochondria as Eve."

Otacon kneeled down to Sonic. "Really?"

Sonic shrugged. "I guess so."

Otacon pushed up his glasses. "Let's take a look."

Otacon led the team into a room that resembled a chemistry lab. "Sit up here." Otacon patted a stool and Sonic jumped up. "I'm going to take a bit of your blood, then I'll take a bit of Aya's and compare them." Otacon held up a small needle. He held Aya's hand and lightly scraped her finger, taking several small pieces of skin and put them on a microscope slide. He then took Sonic's hand. "Can you take the glove off?"

Sonic looked at his hand. "Why?"

"I need to get a skin sample." Otacon held a different needle up.

Sonic looked at his hand. He grabbed the edge of the glove, held it for a moment, and let go. "I don't think I can..."

The team all looked at each other.

Otacon shrugged. "Okay, if Samus won't take his armor off I guess I can let you keep your glove on."

Samus turned. "What?"

Otacon looked up. "Oh, I was just saying how you don't take your armor off."

Samus was still for a moment then nodded his head. Snake watched Samus's subtle movement.

Otacon took some skin from Sonic's arm and put it on a slide. He then took a bit of his own skin and put it on a slide. He looked over each slide carefully, he then opened his mouth and said, "Wow..."

Sonic leaned in. "What is it?"

Otacon took the slides and took them to an overhead projector in the room. He first showed his own blood. "This is an example of normal human cells. Nothing to exciting." He then put on the slide with Aya's skin. "Notice anything different?"

Cloud pointed at the image. "Those cells are moving."

Otacon held up his finger. "Not really moving, but it does look that way. They're just reproducing quicker. The mitochondria create more energy and the body manages it this way. Now," He put up Sonic's blood. The team gasped.

Sonic turned his head slightly. "Why is mine shaking?"

Otacon took off his glasses and cleaned them with a handkerchief. "Your cells are reproducing faster than Aya's at a rate that as far as I know has never been seen before. The difference between yours and Aya's is that your cells die quicker. It seems that your super speed not only effects how fast you move but how fast your whole body moves."

"What does that mean?" Sonic looked at his hand.

Otacon sighed. "Eve couldn't affect your mitochondria to make them produce more energy because they were already putting out more energy than even Aya's."

"Then why did I burn with the Ultimate Being?"

Otacon thought for a moment. "Because it was more powerful?" Otacon looked over at Aya.

Roll came into the room. "Hey guys, Dr. Light said that he would give power to your ship."

Samus stood and was led to the garage by Roll.

"So, I'm indestructible?" Sonic smiled.

Otacon scratched his head. "Not really. Your cells are very unstable. It's possible that they could find a balance or that they will destroy themselves."

Sonic's mouth slowly dropped. "Seriously?"

Otacon shrugged and left the room. Sonic looked over at Snake and Cloud as they hurriedly left.

Samus summoned the ship to Dr. Light's lab and it rested outside. Auto carried a large tube and connected it to a hatch on the outside of the ship.

Dr. Light examined the craft. "It will take some time to get it fully powered and fixed up."

Samus nodded. "That's fine." He then walked back to the house. "Some downtime might actually be nice."

The team grouped in the living room sat down on the chair and sofas.

Snake leaned back. "So, we go to the future, fight that creature, then come back and find Kain?"

Raziel shook his head. "No, we find Kain now."

Cloud stood up. "We don't know where Kain is." Before Raziel could respond Cloud continued. "And you said Kain allied himself with a wizard, was Eve the wizard you were talking about?"

Raziel looked side to side. "I've never seen the wizard, but I do know it was a man."

Cloud nodded. "So, Eve was working for Kain and Kain is working for someone else. This is our problem now. We'll end this together."

Raziel walked up to Cloud. "We will find Kain now."

Cloud swiped his hand through his hair. "You surprised me last time, you won't be so lucky next time."

Raziel narrowed his eyes.

"Guys!" Sonic shouted. "Not here okay! Let's just relax for a bit. I mean, when was the last time we ate?"

"Sonic has a good point." Snake pointed at the hedgehog.

Soon Roll brought out a bunch of sandwiches out of a machine that instantly made food, drinks were also acquired and the team sat down and relaxed for the first time in a while.

Sonic was eating his ninth sandwich when he noticed Samus wasn't eating anything. He held up a sandwich. "Aren't you hungry Samus?"

Samus moved his head over to Sonic. "No, not really."

Sonic shrugged and ate the sandwich.

"How much of you is human?" Snake asked Samus out of nowhere.

Samus slowly turned his head to Snake. "What?"

Snake sat straight. "How much of you is human? Are you a cyborg, made up of machines, or is it all just armor?"

Samus looked around. "It's just armor."

Sonic leaned forward. "Is it attached to your body?"

Samus shook his head. "No, I can take it off."

"Are you really scared or something?" Otacon asked grabbing a sandwich.

Samus stood. "Why do you all care?"

Sonic shrugged. "Well, we don't know really anything about you." Sonic looked at the other members. "Sure, Cloud has his weird silence and secrets and things and so does Snake and Raziel there is...well I don't know what to think of Raziel but we've never even seen your face."

Snake stood up. "And you wouldn't sleep in the same room with us at Hyrule. And when you had to take your gun off...you didn't have a man's hand."

Samus turned away from the group.

Snake stood back and nodded his head, Otacon leaned forward and pushed his glasses up, even Cloud sat up straighter.

Sonic looked around at them as he grabbed another sandwich. "What? What's going on?" Sonic thought as he moved the sandwich to his mouth, then he realized it. "No..."

"You didn't know?" Raziel scoffed. "It's obvious."

Sonic stood up. "That's...no way..." He searched for the right words. "Samus you're a...you're a girl?"

There was a strange silence. "It doesn't matter." Samus said finally.

The team all moved back and went back to what they were doing. Samus left the room.

"Did we upset him, uh, her?" Sonic asked leaning in.

Cloud reached down and grabbed one of the sandwiches. "Samus just wasn't ready to let us know."

Sonic shrugged. "Don't see why not, like she said it doesn't matter she's still Samus."

"Samus had always been alone." Snake said standing up. "Like she said, she's never let anyone know her or be close to her. This is all new to her." Snake then walked out.

Samus was in the garage working on her ship. "It doesn't matter."

Snake walked in. "Everything ready?"

Samus didn't turn around. "Almost, go get everyone we should be ready to go to the future soon." Snake turned to leave. "Snake!" Snake turned around as Samus put her gun arm to his neck. "Now that you know, don't try any flirting." Samus aimed her gun much lower. "Okay?"

Snake slowly nodded and Samus went back to her ship.


	23. Chapter 23

1Chapter Twenty-Three: The One Who Carries the Triforce

"I only have enough power for two trips, we have to go, beat the creature, then come back." Samus climbed into the ship.

The rest of the team climbed onto Samus's ship and climbed in.

"So," Sonic said sitting down. "We go, kick this things butt, come home, and wait for Kain?"

Samus nodded. "Pretty much."

"Even though a shot from this thing totally destroyed Sephiroth?" Sonic asked.

The team looked around each other.

Snake leaned back. "I forgot about that."

Cloud nodded. "We have to do what we can."

Sonic nervously gritted his teeth. "Yeah but, is the best we can do is die?"

Samus turned her chair around to look at the team. "Sonic does have a point."

"What is Sephiroth?" Raziel looked back and forth.

"We know what this creature can do, we won't be surprised." Cloud leaned forward.

"Cloud." Snake ran his hand over his head. "I've seen a lot, but that creature in Hyrule, that thing _scares_ me."

Cloud put his head in his hands and sighed. "You guys are probably right."

"Now, if there were some way we could...I don't know, come back to life back here at Dr. Light's after we died then that would be okay." Sonic waved his hands through the air. "Then I'd say go for it."

"Well, I could hit us with a teleport if it seemed like we were going to lose." Samus suggested.

The team all looked up at her. Sonic shrugged. "Yeah, I guess that could work."

Cloud looked around. "How about we just try the thing, and if it looks bad then we get out?"

There was silent thought for a while. "We'll try it." Snake said finally. "But the second things go bad we get out of there."

The team agreed and Samus lifted the ship into the air. "I'm going to go to half an hour before the creature comes from the ground." Samus said as they ship started to power up.

Sonic gave a thumbs up. "Sounds good!"

The ship fired with energy as it exploded from the sky. The ship re-appeared over a wasteland and hovered back to the ground. The team crawled out of Samus's ship and huddled together outside. They all made sure they were ready for the fight, and Samus fired a teleport to Hyrule. When the team arrived, it was nothing like the futuristic world they were in before, this one resembled what they remembered Hyrule to be only it was nighttime. Villages, a large castle, grass, everything was as it should have been.

Cloud walked around and looked at the world. "This is Hyrule without Sephiroth."

Snake walked over to Samus. "How much longer until the creature shows up?"

Lights flashed on Samus's visor. "About twenty seven minutes."

Snake nodded. "We should try to get all the people out of the town."

Sonic stretched his legs. "Just give the word and they'll be on the other side of the world."

The team moved to the town, when one of the blue portals ripped open and Sephiroth came tumbling out. Sephiroth slowly tried to steady himself as he looked around, he then turned and saw the team standing with the same dumbstruck expression that he had. Sephiroth bolted up and grabbed his sword.

Cloud pulled out the Master Sword and moved to Sephiroth. "You just came from the crater in Hyrule didn't you?"

Sephiroth smiled. "I've had time to recover." Dark energy flowed from him. "I've regained my power."

"That is all."

The team and Sephiroth turned to see a man walking toward them. The man's skin was pale and scaley, his feet and hands were similar to Raziel's, his red cape was thrown over one shoulder and connected across his chest, and white hair flowed from his horned head.

"That is all that will be done for now." The creature stated.

Raziel lunged to the front of the team. "Kain!"

Kain payed no attention to Raziel but instead walked to Sephiroth. Kain stood directly in front of Sephiroth and kneeled. Sephiroth raised his head curiously as Kain took Sephiroth's hand in his. Kain looked at the hand as the Triforce of Power shone brightly. "Master."

Raziel clenched his hands into fists and looked at Sephiroth. "You are the wizard Kain is working for?"

Cloud shook his head. "No, that doesn't make sense."

Sephiroth pulled his hand away from Kain and took a step back. "I have no need for servants."

Kain smiled and looked up at Sephiroth. "I wasn't talking to you."

Sephiroth looked at Kain and then down to his hand, the Triforce of Power was glowing brighter. "What is this?"

Raziel jumped at Kain and the two began fighting. Cloud lifted the Master Sword and moved to Sephiroth. Samus, Snake, and Sonic all looked at the two battles.

"Which do we help?" Sonic asked looking back and forth.

"We know we can't really fight Sephiroth," Snake said. "But we really don't know what's happening between Raziel and Kain."

Sephiroth grabbed his sword and readied it to fight when he winced in pain and dropped it. Everything stopped. Cloud took a step back, Raziel stopped his attack on Kain and looked over at Sephiroth as he grabbed at his hand.

Sephiroth held his hand out as light shot from the image of the Triforce. A golden figure rose from Sephiroth's hand. Everyone looked in wonder as Kain stepped away from the fight and stood near Sephiroth.

The golden figure turned a dark purple color and lifted out of Sephiroth. Sephiroth fell to the ground in his original clothes and wingless. The mass of purple energy contorted in the air and took a human shape.

Kain held his hands up to the figure. "The Lord of Darkness has risen again!"

The figure stretched it's arms, and span in the air as light exploded off of it. A deep booming laugh filled the air as Ganondorf floated to the ground. Ganondorf looked at the team, down at Sephiroth, and then to Kain. "Is everything prepared?"

Kain nodded. "Yes my Lord. Lavos is awaiting your command."

Ganondorf smiled. "Excellent."

"What is this?" Cloud shouted. "Sephiroth killed you!"

Ganondorf chuckled and looked down at Sephiroth. "Did he?"

Samus stepped forward. "What are you doing?"

"What's happening," Ganondorf bowed. "Is that my plan is unfolding perfectly young bounty hunter."

"What?" Samus stepped back.

Kain placed his hand on Ganondorf's shoulder. "My Lord, Lavos is ready to arise."

"Wait!" Snake shouted. "You mean you were in charge the whole time?"

Ganondorf looked up at Snake then at Kain. "Yes." Ganondorf reached behind his back and pulled out a green book with an image of the Triforce on its cover. "This is the Book of Mudora, impossible to be read by any average Hylian it was written in an ancient text. It told me how to summon the power of teleportation and how to properly travel between worlds. On one world I discovered Kain, and he...came to serve under me." Ganondorf smiled. "It was I who found Eve. But I made it appear that she was the one in charge so my goal could be accomplished."

"And what was that?" Snake asked.

"For Sephiroth to strike me down with the Master Sword." Ganondorf looked down at Sephiroth. "You see, when Sephiroth stole the Triforce of Power he also took my soul along with it. That is the same reason that when Cloud pulled the Triforce of Wisdom from you Sephiroth, you saw the image of Princess Zelda."

"But Aya said she killed Eve already, seven years back from 20XX." Sonic said.

Ganondorf smiled. "The book also told me of a greater power than the teleports. You see, when Sephiroth summoned the Calamity From the Skies, he summoned more than a mere meteor."

Cloud looked up at Ganondorf. "What do you mean?"

Ganondorf smiled. "He summoned the creature Lavos."

"Lavos?" Samus asked.

"With Lavos came the Gates, riffs in time that allow a person to travel through time. With the power of the teleports and the Book of Mudora I came across this." Ganondorf held up a blue rod with a star design on the top of it. "The Gate Key, this allows me to open the Gates and travel through time at will. With this I went and got Eve before she died."

"But, how did you travel through time before Lavos came to Hyrule?" Sonic asked.

Ganondorf laughed. "Isn't it obvious?"

"He's not from 20XX." Cloud realized.

"How does Kain fit into this?" Raziel shouted.

Ganondorf looked to Kain. "Honestly, he is just a step in my pyramid. He was there just to confuse you even more." Kain smiled, then his face quickly changed to a look of confusion.

"What do you mean Ganondorf?" Kain asked.

Ganondorf smiled. "I mean I no longer need you." Ganondorf thrust his hand at Kain and a green teleport orb struck him. Raziel shouted no as he leapt at Kain and was sucked into the teleport. The two then vanished.

"What just happened?" Sonic looked around at everyone.

"But why do this?" Cloud asked. "What is your goal?"

Ganondorf crossed his arms. "My goal has never changed. I seek the Triforce and the ultimate power that comes with it. Though now, my quest for domination is at a universal scale!" Ganondorf held his hand to the air. "I will overpower every world in the universe and be lord of all things!"

Sephiroth slowly stood up. "That power...is mine..."

Ganondorf smiled. "Yes, Sephiroth, I had forgotten about you."

Sephiroth raised his sword to attack. "I've killed you before!" Sephiroth stabbed his long katana at Ganondorf but struck an invisible shield. Sephiroth grinded his blade against the wall of energy.

Ganondorf looked closely at the blade. "Yes, the Masamune, an exquisite sword. But not enough." Ganondorf waved his hand and Sephiroth was blown away. "Sephiroth, I will give you this choice once. Join with me, or be destroyed."

Sephiroth slowly picked up his sword and held it ready to attack again.

Ganondorf sighed. "Very well."

A flash of light appeared near Sephiroth and a black hedgehog suddenly grabbed a hold of him.

"Shadow!" Sonic shouted and ran toward the two. Shadow looked down at Sonic in shock and he and Sephiroth began to phase into light. Sonic leapt at Shadow and vanished with him and Sephiroth.

An awkward silence followed.

"What just happened?" Snake looked around at everyone.

"Ganondorf," Cloud took a step forward. "You do realize you just gave away your entire plan right?"

Ganondorf smirked. "Oh yes about that," The ground began to shake as a deep gurgling roar filled the air. "I was stalling."

The ground split in two as Lavos burst out of the planet. "Now, if you don't mind I have work to do." Ganondorf turned to face the creature.

Cloud leapt into the air and stabbed the Master Sword into Ganondorf's back. But he was repelled and tossed backward. He fell to the ground in his normal clothing and wingless.

Ganondorf slowly turned around. "You held the Triforce of Courage, but you are the not the one who carries it. The bearers of Courage and Wisdom will soon be brought into this world, and I will be there to rip the Triforces from them!" Ganondorf laughed.

Samus aimed her gun at Ganondorf. "We won't let you go anywhere!" Snake aimed the gun Aya gave him and Cloud readied the Master Sword and his Buster Sword.

Ganondorf snorted. "I don't have time for this." He held out his hand and an army appeared from nowhere. There were armored men with dog faces, sword swinging skeletons and walking lizards.

The team all huddled together. "Samus," Snake whispered. "Plan B."

Samus nodded and aimed her gun downward. She then fired a teleport back to the ship.

Ganondorf threw his hand out. "Not so fast!" The teleport then split into three teleports absorbing Cloud, Samus, and Snake, each in a different teleport. Before being absorbed, Samus aimed her non-gun arm at Ganondorf and fired a blue beam of energy from a gun at her wrist that attached itself to the Gate Key in Ganondorf's hand. The beam then recoiled to Samus and she grabbed the Key as she was sucked into her teleport. "Well," Ganondorf said after the three were gone. "I didn't see that coming."


	24. Chapter 24

1Chapter Twenty-Four: Sonic

Shadow and Sephiroth appeared over a dark barren land and Sonic tumbled to the ground. Sonic got up and looked around. "We're back at Hyrule when Meteor hit it."

Shadow grabbed Sonic. "Why did you come with us Sonic?"

Sonic pushed Shadow off of him. "Why did you save Sephiroth?"

Shadow looked at Sephiroth who was on his knees staring at his right hand. "Sephiroth has promised me,"

"Promised you what?" Sonic interrupted. "Access to the Promised Land?"

Shadow looked up at Sonic. "How did you,"

Sonic crossed his arms. "I know more than you could guess."

Shadow scowled and walked away from Sonic. "It doesn't matter what you know, Sephiroth will show me the way to my destiny."

Sonic sighed. "Heard this before..." He muttered under his breath. "Look Shadow, Sephiroth couldn't find the sky if he was looking up." Sephiroth's gaze quickly snapped to Sonic who shrugged. "Sorry man, it's the truth." Sonic put his hand on Shadow's shoulder. "Sephiroth doesn't know anything, whatever this Promised Land is, it's not what you want."

Shadow knocked Sonic's arm away from him. "You don't know anything about this Sonic! Sephiroth will show my purpose!"

Sonic punched Shadow in the face. "Shut up about your destiny!" Shadow rubbed his jaw and glared at Sonic. "You were created to be the ultimate life form, well I gotta tell you, I've seen the Ultimate Being, and buddy, it ain't pretty!"

Shadow snorted. "You don't know what I am, you don't know what I have to go through."

"Again, I don't care." Sonic shrugged. "It doesn't matter to me. All I know is that you were created to be the ultimate lifeform and you were saved from death by the girl you loved." Shadow sighed. "Maria didn't want you to fight, and wanted you to use your powers for good."

"But...what do I do?" Shadow looked to Sephiroth.

"You do what you have to." Sonic smiled. "I don't know, go back to Mobius, buy a motorcycle, have your own adventure."

Shadow was confused. "Why would I need a motorcycle?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "I dunno, to be visually appealing? Hey while you're at that, why not learn how to use and get a bunch of guns or something I don't know." Sonic and Shadow laughed at the idea.

"What about him?" Shadow pointed at Sephiroth.

Sonic walked over to Sephiroth. "Hey, you okay there big guy?"

Sephiroth stood and glared down at Sonic. He then turned and looked to the crater.

"Yeah, you're not getting to the life stream." Sonic patted Sephiroth on the shoulder.

Sephiroth gazed down at Sonic. "You think you can stop me?"

Sonic sighed and smiled. "I was scared of you once but, you had the Triforce of Power back then."

Sephiroth grabbed his sword. "I can still destroy you."

Sonic took a couple steps back. "Alright Sephy," Sonic waved his hands to him. "Let's see what you've got."

In an instant, Sephiroth slashed his sword straight through Sonic. Sonic was motionless but then looked side to side and scratched his head. "Was that a practice?" Sephiroth scowled and slashed through Sonic several more times. "Really man, what are you trying to hit?" Sephiroth stabbed his sword through Sonic and held it there. Sonic was shocked, but soon he faded out into nothing and Sephiroth stood up confused. "Yeah, I haven't been there for a good while." Sonic said from behind Sephiroth. Sephiroth turned and began to swipe his sword at Sonic hitting nothing with each swing. "You see Shadow, this is what I mean. This guy can't even beat me!"

Sephiroth stepped back and thrust his hand at Sonic and a bolt of lightning crashed into the ground. Sonic however, moved to the side of the bolt right as it struck. "Wow, that was close Sephy." Sonic walked back over to Shadow. "See what I mean?"

Shadow looked up at Sephiroth and down again at Sonic. "What if I just fall into another trick?"

"Then I'll be there to knock the sense into you." Sonic knocked on Shadow's head. Shadow smiled. "Don't worry about things here, I'll find a way to take care of Sephy."

Shadow took a couple steps back and phased out into light.

Sonic breathed deeply. "Now, to business." Sonic then ducked to avoid being stabbed by Sephiroth, placed his palms to the ground, and pushed himself with his hands kicking Sephiroth in the chin with both his feet. "How exactly am I going to get back to Dr. Light's? And what happened to all the others?" Sonic then smacked himself on the forehead. "Duh, if I go Super I can survive in space. But what to do about Sephy?"

"Stop calling me that!" Sephiroth stood and wiped blood away from his mouth. Red light glowed from around Sephiroth and he swung his sword around in various artistic styles. Sonic then ran up and punched him repeatedly in the face until he was unconscious. Sonic then sat down and thought.

"If I could trust him at all I'd just leave him here, but I can't trust him. He'd kill a whole bunch of people, not to mention the all you can eat buffet of pure energy over there. I doubt he can live in space so I couldn't carry him with me. Agh, curse my morals. If I didn't care about people so much I'd just toss him into the sun or something!" Sonic stood up and walked back and forth.

"Hey, listen!"

Sonic stopped and looked around. "Who said that?"

"Over here!"

"I'm not going crazy again am I?" Sonic looked up in the air. "If you're a talking owl I really don't want anymore riddles!" Sonic then found a spot of light floating the air that bobbed back and forth. The light then lowered to his face and Sonic could make out a slightly human figure in the light with wings. "What the ging-gong-gooley?"

The light laughed. "I'm a fairy, my name is Navi."

"O...kay..." Sonic looked back and forth.

"I came to help with Sephiroth."

"How do you do that?"

"I know of a place where you can keep him."

"Who are you again?"

"My name is Navi, I was Link's personally fairy."

Sonic's eyebrow shot up. "...Link's..._personal_...fairy..."

The light moved up and down in an effort to show that Sonic was correct. Sonic rubbed his hand over his face and groaned.

"Hey, listen!" Navi cheerily exclaimed.

"Yeah, already listening." Sonic tossed his hands into the air.

"There are many dungeons around Hyrule that are still intact where you could put Sephiroth in. He'd never get out."

"You're certain about this?"

The light moved up and down. "Yeah, you need special tools to get out of most of them. We just take away everything that Sephiroth has and leave him stranded in the dungeon. Then you can come back for him later."

Sonic shrugged. "Okay, I guess we can try it. Where's one of these dungeons?"

Navi moved up and down excitedly. "This way!" Navi began to fly away. Sonic walked with the light.

Sonic and Navi crossed over the now desolate Hyrule Field and across a river into an abandoned town.

"Hey, Listen!"

"What!" Sonic shouted in pure rage. This was about the twentieth time Navi had asked him to listen, each time Navi had nothing important to say. "You know what, screw this. Sephiroth is going to get out of this dungeon, and kill everyone here, and then it will all be my fault." Sonic burst into Hyper mode. He grabbed the unconscious Sephiroth and lifted into the air. "Better to get something done right than to get it done well." Sonic tossed Sephiroth into the air a short distance and fired a blast of energy that shot Sephiroth into space.

Sonic patted his hand and gave Navi a bow. "Never bother me again!" Sonic then shot into space and away from Hyrule. He instantly felt bad about what he had done.


	25. Chapter 25

1Chapter Twenty-Five: Gotta Catch 'em All

A teleport opened and Snake tumbled out onto a dirt path in a large open field. Snake stood and looked around all the tall grass, and then looked around for the others.

"Where am I?" Snake looked up at the sky and then around at the tall grass on either side of him. He then started to walk up the path he was on and soon he came to a town. The buildings were oddly place apart from each other and the doors to all them pointed the same direction but Snake still walked in and looked around. There were a few people out and about the town that gave Snake some funny looks but overall it seemed pretty normal.

Snake walked into the center of town and found a light green haired woman in a blue police uniform. "Excuse me?" Snake walked up the woman.

The woman turned and looked Snake up and down curiously. "Yes, can I help you?"

Snake had to think about this carefully. "What town is this?"

"You're in Cerulean City sir." The woman responded turning to watch a couple of kids go running by.

"Say uh..." Snake looked carefully at a name badge on the officers jacket. "Officer...Jenny, do you have an information office near here?"

"Of course sir." Officer Jenny turned and pointed to a building with a large red and white ball on the top of it. "Go right into the Pokemon Center."

Snake walked away from Officer Jenny and moved to the Pokemon Center. Snake walked through the automatic doors and entered what looked almost like the waiting room of a hospital. He walked up to a desk and looked around. "Anyone here?"

A woman in a pink and white nurses outfit with pink hair stepped behind the desk. "Can I help you sir?" The woman said cheerfully.

Snake smiled. "Listen...this may sound strange but, I have no idea where I am."

The woman put her hand to her chest. "Oh my sir, are you lost?"

Snake lifted his head into the air. "Yeah, I'm lost alright."

"Well sir, you are in Cerulean City." The woman said.

Snake bowed his head. "This is going to sound strange, but I don't know what planet I'm on."

The woman moved her head over to one side and looked at Snake curiously.

Snake nervously smiled. "If you could just tell me..." Snake's eyes slowly drifted to the egg-shaped pink creature wearing a nurses cap that had just walked in and was now standing next to the woman. "What the hell?" Snake took a step back.

"Is there a problem sir?" The woman looked down at the creature and up at Snake.

Snake stared at the pink creature that looked side to side. It then brought it's hands together and smiled. "Chansey!"

"What is that?" Snake pointed at the pink monster.

The woman stepped out from behind the desk. "Maybe you should sit down sir."

A boy stepped into the Pokemon Center carrying a small blue bat. "Nurse Joy, my Zubat is sick!"

"Of course," Nurse Joy took the bat in her arms and then looked up at Snake. "If you will wait just one moment sir." Nurse Joy left the room and Snake fell into one of the chairs.

"What is this place?" Snake rubbed his hand across his face.

"You okay mister?" The boy asked.

Snake slowly looked at the boy and sighed. "I don't know."

Nurse Joy walked in carrying a small red and white ball. "Here you are." She handed the ball to the boy. The boy smiled and ran outside. "Now, what did you need sir?" Nurse Joy looked back at Snake.

"What is the name of the planet we are on?" Snake said this very calmly, so he wouldn't upset the woman anymore than he already had.

"What do you mean sir?" Nurse Joy moved her head to one side.

Snake rubbed his eyes. "Is there someone else I can talk to?"

Nurse Joy was a little shocked at this. "Of course sir." Nurse Joy then walked into a room behind the desk. A moment later she came back out and smiled at Snake. "Can I help you sir?"

Snake was baffled. "Yeah, I wondered if there was someone else I could talk to."

"I know sir, that's what Nurse Joy told me." The woman motioned to the door where the first woman just walked out.

"Is everything alright?" The first woman asked.

Snake shifted his eyes back and forth to the two nurses and sighed. "Twins?"

The two nurses looked at each other. "No," Said the second nurse. "We have no relation. What would make you think that?"

Snake slowly bowed his head, turned around, and walked out of the building. He passed the police woman without saying a word, and walked out of the town. Snake followed the road for a while but eventually began to wander away into some tall grass. Snake brought his hand to his ear and began to scan through his CODEC to see if there was anyone available to talk to but could find nothing.

Soon it became night and Snake was still aimlessly walking through the tall grass. "Anyone there?" He asked as he scanned through CODEC channels again. Snake stopped as a voice came though. "Is someone there?" Snake asked over the nanomachines. The voice that came through was filled with static and was garbled at times but the message could still be heard easily.

"Snake! Where are you? I need help!"

Snake tried to tune the channel so the signal was clearer but he couldn't fix it. "Samus! You're breaking up!" Snake looked around as he heard the grass rustle.

"Snake!" Samus shouted over the CODEC. "Stay where you are...I'll try to get where you are as soon as I..." The message became clouded in static.

"Samus! What happened?" Snake shouted.

The grass rustled fiercely and Snake turned to see a small black ball with legs walking toward him. It also had large green leaves coming out of the top of it. "Oddish?" The creature said to Snake.

Snake grimaced at the creature and lightly tapped it with his foot. The black creature frowned and shouted the word Oddish at Snake. It's leaves then swayed back and forth and released a bright gold pollen. Snake looked around as the cloud of pollen fell around him. He then went stiff, a shock went through his body, and he fell into a world of blackness.

"Ah, good to see you're awake." Was the first thing Snake heard when he came to. He slowly sat up in the bed he was in looked at the man in the white lab coat. "We were all a little worried."

Snake ran his hand over his face. "Where the hell am I?"

The man in the lab coat nodded. "Yes, Nurse Joy said you were asking questions like that. I think I can help clear up your questions." Snake looked at the man with a confused yet hopeful look. "First, let me introduce myself. My name is Professor Oak. The world you are in is referred to as Kanto."

Snake smiled. "Okay, what was that thing in the grass?"

Professor Oak smiled. "That was an Oddish, a Pokemon."

Snake's face went into a blank stare. "Pokeyman?"

Oak chuckled. "No, it's pronounced Poke-ah-mon. Pokemon."

Snake stood up. "I'd ask if that means anything but I really have to get going."

Professor Oak smiled and bowed his head. "Of course, your friend is here looking for you."

Snake was lead outside where Samus stood next to her ship.

"Ready to go?" Samus asked.

Snake climbed up the ladder and crawled into the ship. Samus jumped on top of the ship and looked around. The image of a woman's face appeared in static on her visor. She then jumped into the ship.

"So, what happened to you?" Snake asked as they left the planet.

The image of the face smiled.


	26. Chapter 26

1Chapter Twenty-Six: Sanity's Requiem

Cloud tumbled out of a teleport and landed in the main entrance to a large mansion. Large pillars held up the second floor, and a large staircase lay in the middle of the room. Cloud stood up and put both his swords away. He then looked at his hand. Cloud sighed and walked into a doorway on the right wall of the room.

The next room was a library, large bookshelves were placed against every wall, and several books were either missing or scattered across the floor. Cloud picked up one of the books from the floor and flipped through the pages. The book contained information on archeology, ancient relics, and magic. Cloud closed the book and placed it on a shelf. The bookcase then slid back and revealed a secret room. Cloud looked around and walked in. The room was dimly lit and had artifacts on shelves and hung on the walls. A desk was against the front wall with a book bound in human flesh on it. Cloud looked at some papers near the book, picking one up that had the words "Tome of Eternal Darkness" written on it.

Cloud picked up the book and opened it. The book started by telling the life of a soldier in an ancient world discovering evil magic, a desert swordsman sent to find an ancient treasure, a messenger to a king deceived into treachery, an artist taken as a prisoner of war, a monk tricked into summoning a demon, and continued to more chapters. Cloud put the book down when he heard the sound of footsteps going through the door. Cloud ran into the library and saw the tail end of a pink dress going into the main lobby of the mansion.

"Wait!" Cloud shouted as he ran out the door to follow the girl. When he went through the door he was in an ally in a dark city. Cloud looked around confused and then turned to the girl in a pink dress facing a glowing green light. Cloud took a step toward the girl. "...Aeris?" The girl turned to Cloud with her head down. "What's going on? Are you okay?" The girl slowly lifted her head as fires started behind her. Cloud looked around surprised and then back at the girl. As her head lifted her hair changed from a brown color to white, her clothes changed to a black color, and the flames continued to grow. Cloud took a step back.. "No..."

Sephiroth finished raising his head and smiled at Cloud. Sephiroth then slowly turned around and walked into the fires of a burning town. Cloud grabbed his Buster Sword and ran through the fire to catch Sephiroth. Cloud leapt through a wave of fire and landed in the main room of the mansion he was in before.

"What the..." Cloud looked around the mansion and put his sword away. Cloud rubbed his eyes and walked to a different room.

Cloud looked at the paintings and sculptures in the hallway as he passed them. Cloud then stopped walking and looked at a bust of a human head. Cloud turned his head and looked back at the bust quickly. Cloud turned his head again and watched the statue through the corner of his eye. He then looked at the bust carefully. "You haven't been watching me have you?"

The bust then looked up and Cloud. "It is possible." The bust then looked down the hallway. "You gonna do something about those?"

Cloud looked behind him as several human figures moved toward him. "What the, zombies?"

"They should be able to be easily gotten rid of." Remarked the head.

Cloud reached back to grab his sword, grabbed again, and looked behind him to see his sword was missing. He reached for the Master Sword only to find it was gone as well. Some large scorpion like creatures then joined the zombies.

"You don't have any weapons?" The head asked. "My, that was poor planning on your part."

Cloud opened his satchel of items to notice it was empty, he was also missing all of his materia. Cloud looked down at the head.

"Hey, I don't know what to do. I'm just a head made out of stone." The head smiled.

Cloud took a couple steps back and ran for the other end of the hallway.

"God speed!" Shouted the head.

Cloud looked behind him to see the number of monsters had grown drastically. As he looked ahead again he stopped as a giant muscled figure with three heads appeared in front of him. Cloud stopped, took a corner and ran down the hallway. He opened a door and looked as the monsters charged toward him. He shut the door and sighed. He turned around and saw that he was in the main room of the mansion again. Cloud walked back to the middle of the room and looked around. He then moved to the stairs and began to walk up them.

Cloud stopped halfway up the stairs and looked around the mansion room to make sure things still looked right. When he turned around again he was on a staircase in a factory room containing large blue capsules. At the bottom of the staircase lay a different girl with long brown hair.

"Tifa!" Cloud ran down the steps and picked the girl up.

"Just like you promised..." The girl slowly opened her eyes. "You promised you would protect me."

Cloud nodded. "Yeah..." He turned around and put the girl on the steps. When he stood up he was no longer in his normal clothes. He was now in a blue soldiers uniform.

"You have to stop him..." The girl then passed out.

Cloud looked up to the door at the top of the steps. He walked up the stairs to the door.

"I couldn't stop him." Cloud turned and looked at a person in clothes like his with black spiky hair. "Go Cloud, you have to stop him."

Cloud reached over and took the man's Buster Sword. Cloud looked at it in his hand, ran up the steps, and burst through the door marked "Jenova".

Sephiroth stood in front of a blue capsule containing the figure of a woman. "Mother, let's take the planet back together. I've thought of a great idea, let's go to the Promised Land."

"Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted.

Sephiroth lowered his head. "They've come again mother." Sephiroth raised his hands to the capsule. "With her superior power, knowledge, and magic, mother was destined to become ruler of this planet."

Cloud raised his sword. "What about _my _sadness? My family...friends? The sadness of having my hometown taken away from me? It's the same as your sadness!"

Sephiroth turned around and laughed. "My sadness? What have I to be sad about? I am the chosen one, I have been chosen to be the leader of the planet." Sephiroth drew his long sword. "I have been commanded to take back the planet from you stupid people for the Ancients. What should I be sad about?"

Cloud bowed his head. "Sephiroth...I trusted you." Cloud looked up again and readied his sword. "No, you're not the Sephiroth I knew!" Cloud lunged at Sephiroth and slashed. Sephiroth easily dodged the blow and slashed at Cloud. Cloud barely dodged the attack and stood again.

Sephiroth stood with his back to Cloud. "You can't be serious."

Cloud held his sword to attack. "What?"

Sephiroth didn't move. "You actually thought Sephiroth was the villain?"

Cloud thought about what this meant when Sephiroth turned around and suddenly changed into Ganondorf. Ganondorf grabbed Cloud by the throat and held him over the edge of the platform they stood on. "Sephiroth was very helpful in my plan. Now, I will have the Triforce and the universe will bow before me!" Ganondorf turned and tossed Cloud through the air.

Cloud went whizzing over the burned fields of Hyrule as Ganondorf came flying through the air to meet Cloud. Ganondorf reached to grab Cloud's neck as a long thin red hand caressed his face instead.

"What did you think?" Whispered Eve. "Did you think it would be that clear? That the obvious answer would be the right one?"

Cloud smacked into the ground and slowly stood up and realized he was back in the hanger room where he first fought Ganondorf. Cloud looked up as Ganondorf slowly walked toward him, glowing with purple energy. "My power cannot be defeated. There is only one who can defeat me, and soon he will be dead and his courage will be mine!" Cloud tried to steady himself to fight. Ganondorf stood a few feet away from Cloud and gathered his energy in his hand. "You fought well, but you are not the hero." Ganondorf raised his fist and punched straight into Cloud's chest.

Cloud jerked back as he felt the sword the go into him. He looked down at the blade and followed it back to it's purple hilt. Cloud looked up at Link as he lifted up the Master Sword to hold Cloud over the well of energy in the Jenova chamber.

"Wh...what?" Cloud managed to say.

Link didn't move. A silver lined blue box appeared over Link. Cloud looked at the box and read the words inside.

"The greatest foe lies within."

Link then let go of the Master Sword and Cloud fell into the river of energy.

Cloud fell onto the marble floor of the main room of the mansion and the Master Sword clanged as it hit the floor next to him. Cloud slowly stood up and picked up the Master Sword. Cloud looked around at the mansion and noticed a bust like the one from the hallway.

"You still there?" Cloud asked the statue.

"Who are you talking to?"

Cloud turned to the main doors of the mansion and saw Sonic standing in the doorway. "Did you know I was here?"

"Are you there?" Cloud narrowed his eyes.

"What?" Sonic looked around. "Look, I'm just glad I finally found you. I've been flying across the galaxy for a long time now just trying to find anyone."

"What made you come here?" Cloud asked.

Sonic looked up at the mansion. "I don't know, it was like the Chaos Emeralds were drawn to this place." Sonic shrugged. "Anywho, you have any idea where Samus or Snake are?"

Cloud shook his head.

Sonic sighed. "Well, guess we can just blaze through the galaxy until we find them."

Sonic and Cloud walked out of the mansion and Sonic grabbed Cloud's hand. "Whatever you do, make sure you don't let go." Sonic went to Super Sonic and Cloud covered in his energy aura. Sonic then rocketed into the sky

"Where did you go when you went off with Shadow?" Cloud asked as they went through space.

"I went into the past back when that meteor his Hyrule. Convinced Shadow to leave Sephiroth and left Sephiroth for dead in space." Sonic smiled.

"What?" Cloud shouted. "You left Sephiroth in space?"

"Yeah, I figured he couldn't do any damage there."

"Wait, if you went to the past how did you get here now?"

Sonic thought for a moment. "Guess it doesn't make sense does it?"

Cloud looked around. "I'm still in the mansion aren't I?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, that's a safe bet."

"Well, do you have any idea how I should get out?" Cloud asked.

Sonic scratched his head. "Don't worry, I'm sure Snake will show up any second...now."

"Cloud!" Snake shook Cloud by the shoulder. Cloud slowly came to. "You okay? I found you on the floor of this mansion."

"Is this real?" Cloud asked.

Snake looked over at Samus who was standing in the doorway. Samus shrugged. "Let's get him out of here."

Snake picked Cloud up over his shoulder and walked out the door and climbed into Samus's ship.

"How did you find me?" Cloud asked.

Samus sat at the controls of the ship. "I was tracking all of the teleports out of Hyrule. I found Snake first, he teleported onto a planet directly beneath the space ship I landed on. Sorry for taking so long to find you."

"What? I was in that mansion for an hour." Cloud looked at Snake and Samus who looked at each other.

"It's been two weeks." Samus said and pushed a button displaying a calendar.

Cloud was silent. "I'm still in the mansion aren't I?"

Snake and Samus looked at each other. "Let's find Sonic." Snake said to Samus.

Samus held up the Gate Key and pointed it various directions until it started to blink. "There's a gate this way." Samus took control of the ship and sent it in the direction that they key blinked. Cloud looked around as he heard the sound of a gate opening, saw swirling colors, and he slowly fell asleep.


	27. Credits

1Written by:

Zak Bartels

Based on _The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen _by:

Alan Moore, Kevin O'Neill, Ben Dimagmaliw, and Bill Oakley

_The Legend of Zelda/Metroid _and all related items are registered trademarks of Nintendo

_Sonic the Hedgehog _and all related items are registered trademarks of Sega

_Megaman _and all related items are registered trademarks of Capcom

_Metal Gear Solid _and all related items are registered trademarks of Konami

_Final Fantasy VII/ Parasite Eve/ Chrono Trigger _and all related items are registered trademarks of Square-Enix

_Half-Life _and all related items are registered trademarks of Valve

_Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver_ and all related items are registered trademarks of Eidos

The whole fight between Sonic and Shadow was a parody of _Dragonball Z. _ Which is owned by Bird Studios/ Shueisha Toei Animation.

I am in no way affiliated with these companies and hold no rights to the above items.


	28. Lost Levels: Chapter 13

Chapter Thirteen: The Gates Open

"My god…" Sonic stared down into the crater. "Hyrule, it's gone."

"Has Sephiroth ever done anything like this before?" Snake asked Cloud.

Cloud was silent for a moment. "No, this is the first time Sephiroth had ever used Meteor."

Samus stared down and noticed a green light. "Cloud look!" Samus pointed towards it.

Cloud walked over to Samus and looked in the direction of his finger. "Life Stream, it's already begun to appear." Cloud looked down a little farther to see Sephiroth walking calmly towards it. "We have to stop him!" Cloud ran down the crater with both swords out toward Sephiroth, Samus leapt high into the air and began to descend towards Sephiroth, Snake ran down alongside Cloud, and Sonic whizzed right by Sephiroth, half piped on the other side of the crater, flew through the air, and landed in front of Sephiroth just as the others arrived. Samus and Snake aimed guns at Sephiroth, Sonic got into a fight position, and Cloud extended the Master Sword at Sephiroth's neck.

"Do you really think it will be this easy?" Sephiroth asked.

"We are ready to die if it means we stop you." Cloud edged the sword closer.

Things stayed like that for several moments, none of them moving.

When suddenly, a deep gargling roar filled the air.

Things stayed motionless.

The roar filled the air again.

"Sephiroth," Cloud said calmly. "What is that?"

Sephiroth stared into Cloud's eyes. "I don't know."

A flash shone around the team and Sephiroth, the sound of a portal opening ran through the skies, and they all found themselves flying through a vortex of light, that waved purple and blue colors.

"Where are we?" Sonic shouted.

The team looked at Sephiroth. "Yes?" He asked.

"Answer us Sephiroth" Samus threatened.

"I don't know what's going on." Sephiroth answered.

Sonic levitated over to Sephiroth. "How can we trust you?"

Sephiroth smiled. "That's for you to decide." Sephiroth placed a hand on Sonics head and pushed him back.

"But what do we do now?" Snake asked.

The sound of the vortex opening was heard again, the team looked ahead to a black circle that they were on a course for. The team went flying into the vortex, while Sephiroth flew to the side of it missing it and continuing to fly through the vortex.

"Sephiroth!" Cloud shouted as a flash of light shot revealing them all in a lush green valley.

"What?" Asked Sonic spinning around.

"Where are we?" Samus asked.

Snake put his hand to his ear. "I can't get anyone through CODEC, we must be out of range."

Cloud looked around the fields before him. "Something familiar about this place…"

"Hey Cloud!" Sonic shouted. Cloud turned around. "We're going to Dr. Lights to get Otacon and Aya."

"Who's Aya?" Cloud asked.

"She's nice, you'll like her." Sonic assured.

Samus fired a teleport and the team stepped into it.

Though they did not arrive at Dr. Lights.

They appeared in a factory that appeared to not have been used for years.

"This can't be right." Samus looked through some menus on his visor.

Footsteps came toward the team.

"Hello?" Sonic shouted. "Is someone there?"

A figure came toward the team, a humanoid figure of a light blue color, wearing deep blue boots, gloves, and gun arm. Its head was like a helmet that had a red triangular gem on the forehead, and a red dot in the center of its head that served as its eye.

"Friend of yours Samus?" Sonic asked pointing down at the gun arm.

Samus took a step toward the figure. "We're lost, can you help us?"

The figures red eye shone and it raised its gun at Samus. Samus raised his gun. "Hold on, we don't mean any trouble."

"They do." Snake said looking around the room at the many figures identical to the first one that filled the room. Samus slowly lowered his gun and stepped back.

"Do we fight them?" Sonic asked.

Cloud looked around the room. "There's to many, we should see what they plan to do first."

The figures raised their guns and aimed at the team.

"I think I know what they plan to do." Snake said.

"What are you doing here? A voice asked.

The creature's eyes blinked and they lowered their guns. A figure floated down to the team from a hole in the ceiling. It wore long green boots, green gloves, a green vest on his chest that had two small green wings on it's back, a green helmet that had two large green wings on each side, and a red triangle on the forehead.

"This is a restricted area." The man said.

"We don't know how we got here." Cloud explained. "We're lost."

The man laughed. "You expect me to believe that?" The man walked around and looked at shelf of small metal cylinders. "A good amount of energy crystals in here, a good supply for a small resistance."

"Resistance?" Snake asked.

The man turned. "Don't play games." He walked and stood in front of Snake. "You expect me to believe you haven't heard of the Resistance against Neo Arcadia?"

Sonic looked up at the man. "Look, there has to be a mix-up here."

The man looked down at Sonic. "What are you supposed to be?"

"I'm a hedgehog." Sonic answered.

"Interesting." He looked back up at the rest of the team. "Confess, and I may show mercy."

"Confess to what?" Samus asked. "We've done nothing wrong."

"Lies, you are part of the Maverick Resistance against Neo Arcadia!" He shouted at Samus.

"What's Neo Arcadia?" Sonic shouted.

The man looked down at Sonic, and then looked back up at the team. "Seriously, you don't know of Neo Arcadia?"

"That's what we've been saying." Cloud said.

"We're not from this world." Snake explained.

The man thought about this. He then raised his hand, the creatures then left the room. "I apologize, Neo Arcadia has many enemies."

"What's Neo Arcadia?" Cloud asked.

"In a moment." The man looked into the sky. "Prepare for transfer, I am returning to Neo Arcadia with others."

Light surrounded the team as they vanished to a new place.


	29. Lost Levels: Chapter 14

Chapter Fourteen: Travelers of both Time and Space

The team arrived in a teleport room not so different from the one they had been using before. The man stepped down from the teleport and walked to the door.

"Where are we?" Snake asked.

"You are in Neo Arcadia." The man opened the door to an enormous futuristic metropolis where both humans and robots walked the streets. "Neo Arcadia is a human utopia, free of Maverick disturbances."

"Maverick?" Samus asked.

"Renegade reploids."

"Reploids?" Cloud asked.

"Robots replicated from the designs of X."

"What's X?" Sonic asked.

"Master X is the founder and ruler of Neo Arcadia, it was he who defeated the ruler of the Mavericks."

"Who are you?" Samus asked.

The man turned around and bowed. "I am Harpuia, leader of the four guardians of Master X."

"What are you?" Cloud asked.

"I am one of the finest Reploids ever created, built by Master X himself."

"Can we meet this 'X'"? Snake asked.

"Of course, I am taking you to the heart of Neo Arcadia now to meet him. And the other three Guardians." Harpuia turned and continued walking.

The team was in awe of the city they walked through, never before had any of them seem something so magnificent.

"Harpuia!" A voice shouted. The team looked ahead as a large figure walked towards the green reploid. He wore pink boots, gloves, chest and shoulder armor, a pink helmet with two yellow horns, and a large pink gun in his right hand. "These are the people you talked about?"

"Yes," Harpuia turned to the team. "This is another of the Four Guardians, his name is Fefnir."

"Harpuia," Fefnir said. "Leviathan and Phantom are waiting inside, so is Master X." Fefnir walked forward and opened the doors of a large tower they stood in front of. They walked inside and rode an elevator up. When the elevator doors opened two reploids stood waiting.

One was a woman, she wore light blue-heeled boots, long blue gloves, a blue chest vest like what Harpuia wore, a helmet with a red triangle on the forehead, and she carried a long spear. The other looked like a ninja, he wore black boots, gloves, and vest, he wore a red scarf, had a sword on his waist, and a helmet that covered his eyes like a mask, with a red triangle on the forehead.

"Allow me to introduce the last two members of the Four Guardians," Harpuia motioned his hand to the woman. "Leviathan and Phantom."

Snake looked Leviathan up and down. "Robots here are very advanced, and lifelike."

Leviathan smiled. "You say you are not from this world."

"Yes." Samus answered.

"Come," Harpuia walked forward to a large door. "Master X will be most interested." A large lock opened in the center of the door and it slid open. The Guardians walked in first and kneeled in front of large chair that was mostly hidden by darkness.

"These are the ones you found?" A voice asked.

"Yes my Lord." Harpuia answered. "They now nothing of Neo Arcadia or the Resistance."

"Interesting." The voice responded. A figure stood and slowly walked into the light. "You are not from this world you claim." The figure was fully exposed, it had black arms and legs, it wore blue boots and gloves, and its torso was blue with a red outlined color that formed an X. The outer edge of its helmet was white, a blue uplifted stripe went across the top of its head to a red triangle on its forehead. The team stood in disbelief.

"Megaman?" Sonic asked silently.

The robot stared down at Sonic. "I am Megaman X, ruler of Neo Arcadia and savior of the human race."

"Megaman X?" Samus asked.

Megaman X smiled. "Please, call me X. But I do wonder how you knew my full name."

"You resemble a friend of ours named Megaman." Cloud explained.

"Hmm, curious." X thought for a moment. "Anyway, I do not believe that I have learned your names."

"I'm Cloud Strife."

"Samus Aran."

"Solid Snake."

"Sonic the Hedgehog."

X looked around the team. "Interesting, tell me about your travels."

Cloud thought for a moment. "Where do we begin?"

The team told the story so far, about Wily, Eggman, Ganondorf, Ridley, Eve, and Sephiroth. They told about how they had lost Link and Megaman, about Meteor and the strange vortex.

"Interesting. Be sure that we will not rest until we find a way for you to return to your 'Black Mesa'. And in the meantime, perhaps you can help us." X walked around the room. "You see we have been fighting a resistance of maverick reploids, nothing more than a handful really."

"What do you need us for if there are so few of them?" Snake asked.

X walked to a computer terminal. "They have a strong ally, an ancient and powerful reploid," He pushed a couple of buttons and a blurred image appeared of a red robot, with long blonde hair. "Zero."

The team stood in shock.

"That's impossible," Samus said. "I left him in space."

X turned around. "What do you mean?"

"Not more than a day ago I sent Zero into space so he wouldn't be of any trouble." Samus explained.

"A day ago? This is impossible we have been fighting Zero for about a month now." X told the team.

"But how?" Samus asked.

"Wait," Cloud thought for a moment. "X, you said Zero was an ancient reploid."

"That is correct." X answered.

"X," Cloud hesitated for a moment. "What year is this?"

X thought for a moment. "A strange question."

"Please answer."

"It is currently the year 22XX A.D."

The whole team was in shock.

"We've traveled two hundred years into the future." Snake said slowly.

X thought. "That would explain some things."

The team looked up at him.

"When you traveled through the vortex must have been when you were sent through time. And when you teleported to this, Dr. Lights, laboratory it was gone with the sands of time."

"We have to get back to Hyrule, the answer is there." Cloud said.

"But we can't leave things how they are here." Samus argued. "We should help Neo Arcadia defeat Zero."

"This time means nothing to us, we will be long dead when this time comes, it's not our problem."

"You will turn your back on them?" Samus shouted. "They help us, I say we help them."

"Excuse me!" X interrupted the argument. "You don't need to choose now. Fefnir will be leading an attack on the Resistance base in the morning, please, stay with us until then."

The team agreed and was shown to bedchambers.

Sonic sat down on his bed. He looked around at the stark metallic room. "Not as swanky as Hyrule."

"So," Samus began. "Are we going to help them?"

"We've all fought Zero, none of us stood a chance." Snake admitted.

"Maybe over the course of time Zero has gotten weaker." Sonic suggested.

"We can't afford to waste time." Cloud objected.

"That's the thing, we have lost all of our time. Currently Sephiroth would have done his damage years ago, and passed on. We can help fix things here and then get back to Hyrule without having lost anything." Samus pointed out.

Cloud thought about this.

"I say we help Neo Arcadia." Samus said.

"I'm with you." Sonic joined.

Snake sighed. "I'll join as well."

The team looked at Cloud. "You're right, we lose nothing by staying here for the time. Let's help them."

The team awoke the next day and made their way to the chamber of X.

"Have you made your decision?" X asked expectantly.

"Yes," Cloud said. "We'll help you."

X smiled. "Excellent. You shall join Fefnir on a trip to the desert outside of the Resistance base, from there you will begin your attack."

"Let's go guys." Said Sonic going for the door.

"One more thing." X shouted before they left the door. X walked down and stood in front of them. "From this day forward, I'm making you honorary Guardians of Neo Arcadia."

"Thank you X." Samus said on behalf of the league.

X smiled as they left and made their way for the hangar. Fefnir stood in front of a large beetle shaped aircraft.

"Glad you guys could make it!" Fefnir shouted walking up to them. "We were about to take off."

"Then we got here just in time it would appear." Snake said looking over the strange aircraft.

"Yeah," Fefnir nodded his head. "We should get going, they're not gonna wait for us forever!" Fefnir ran towards a ship and jumped into it. The team followed onto their ship.

They flew out of Neo Arcadia and over lands of destroyed wastelands. "What happened to this world?" Samus said looking down.

"I don't know," Snake said. "But I just hope we can make it better when we get back."

The team arrived over a desert and the craft lowered to the ground. They got out and met up with Fefnir.

"What's the plan?" Cloud asked Fefnir.

Fefnir pointed out towards the base on the horizon. "Basically what we're gonna do is send out waves of robots at the base that will take out a couple of Mavericks, then Zero will probably come, take out our entire attacking force and then we get to fight him." Fefnir patted Cloud on the back. "Flawless." Cloud thought for a moment. Fefnir stood on a large rock and commanded his troops who then marched forward. "Now it's a matter of time."

A series of explosions fired around the base.

"Is that good?" Sonic asked Fefnir.

"Either it's their defenses going down, or our troops being destroyed." Fefnir said studying the explosions. The blasts began to come closer. "Hmm, seems they let Zero out early."

Snake looked at Fefnir. "Zero, he's coming?"

Fefnir nodded. "Yeah." Fefnir grabbed his large gun and prepared to fight.

Snake slid his buster onto his hand.

"What's that?" Fefnir asked looking at Snake's buster.

"It's a buster cannon." Snake explained.

Fefnir snorted. "That thing is really out of date." Fefnir walked over to a ship and picked up a pistol. "Try this, top of the line."

Snake took the gun and fired a large blast of energy, the size of a medium charged shot on his old buster. "Thanks." Snake said to Fefnir who saluted and then looked back out on the battlefield.

Waves of explosions occurred near the team, they readied themselves and prepared to fight.

"Let me have a shot at him first." Samus suggested.

"What?" Snake shouted.

"You can't fight that yourself." Cloud advised.

"If it looks like I'm in trouble come in and help." Samus ran forward toward the explosions.

A red shadow flew across the desert, where it went explosions shortly followed. Samus aimed his gun at the shadow and fired, each time his shot missing. The shadow began to glow, and a large green blast of energy came flying at Samus knocking him back. "That's strange," Samus said to himself. "That didn't do near as much damage as before." More shots came flying at Samus who managed to dodge most of them and fire shots of his own. The shadow stopped, it stood hidden by a combination of smoke and sand. A green light ignited and began to fly towards Samus. As Samus realized what the light was he bent over backward and dodged a beam of light in the form of a sword. Samus stood back up and dodged the slash of the saber. "Enough of this." Samus said as he pulled his gun arm back and thrust it into Zero's chest. Zero went sliding back and stopped himself, he looked up at Samus and charged again. This time Zero used more than his newly acquired beam saber, he used his extra arm and his legs to fight Samus. Samus found himself somehow managing to keep up with Zero's movements, he didn't seem to move as fast as he used to. Samus spun around, ducked, jumped, and then placed his gun at the side of Zero's head, as Zero placed his blade on Samus's neck. The fight stood at a stand still. Samus looked in awe at Zero, who looked nothing like how he remembered.

Zero's helmet, was mostly black, with a red V going across the top of it with two long horizontal white spikes on each side of it, his body was mostly black, save for the red armor on his arms, the vest like the Guardians, and red boots. He still had his long blonde hair.

Zero looked up at Samus. "Are we going to continue?" He asked.

"You can talk?" Samus asked in wonder.

"Why does this surprise you?" Zero asked.

"I had never heard you talk before."

"Do I know you?"

"You don't remember me?"

"I don't remember a lot."

"Samus!" Snake shouted. "Is everything alright?"

Samus looked down at Zero. "Yeah, everything's fine!"

"You know about my past?" Zero asked.

"Yes."

"And you join with the enemy."

"What, you're the Maverick Resistance."

"You must not be from here."

"What?"

Zero lowered his blade and ran towards the rest of the team.

Samus thought for a moment. "What does he mean?" Samus turned and ran towards the team.

Fefnir and Zero were fighting when Samus reached them.

"How's Fefnir doing?" Samus asked.

"He looks like he's holding his own" Snake said.

Zero ran around Fefnir dodging his blasts of fire. Zero jumped and struck Fefnir on the head with a powerful saber strike. Fefnir fell to the ground.

"You won't get away with this." Fefnir tried to stand. "Dang, I can't move my leg. You got lucky this time Zero. Sorry guys, I have no choice!" Fefnir then shot into the sky in a beam of light. Zero slowly turned around and faced the team.

"You are humans, why do you fight?" Zero asked them.

"He can talk?" Sonic asked.

"We joined with X to fight you and your Maverick Resistance." Cloud explained.

Zero sighed. "So, you've been fooled by him."

"What?" Snake asked. "Fooled?"

Zero looked up into the air. "Prepare for transfer, I'm returning to Resistance base, with others."

The team appeared in a run down room on an old looking transporter. Zero stepped down and walked towards the door.

"Where are we?" Cloud asked.

The door opened. "The Resistance base, follow me." Zero led the team through a stark looking base, cracked walls, and stains on the floor, soldiers who looked unprepared for battle, and civilians.

"This doesn't look like much of a threat to Neo Arcadia." Samus said looking around at the civilians and soldiers.

Zero led them to an old elevator and took them up two levels, and he then led them to a large room with cracked silver cylinders along the walls. A woman stood in the room, she wore a pink vest like Zero's, a pink skirt, white gloves, white and pink heeled shoes, and underneath the vest and skirt she wore a skin-tight body suit. She also wore a helmet that let her bangs hang out, and had a hole in the top for a ponytail to stick out of.

"These are the other's you talked about Zero?" The woman asked.

Zero nodded. "They fight with Neo Arcadia, and don't know the truth."

The woman walked to the team. "I'm sorry that you have been caught up in all of this. Let me introduce myself, my name is Ciel."

The team went around and introduced themselves.

"These robots get more and more lifelike." Snake said looking Ciel up and down.

Ciel cleared her throat. "I'm a human."

Snake stepped back. "Sorry."

"Anyway," Cloud said changing the subject. "What's going on?"

"It's a long story." Ciel began. "One hundred years ago a scientist by the name of Dr. Cain found a capsule that contained the original Megaman X."

"Original?" Sonic said already confused.

Ciel nodded her head. "The X you met was a copy I made, but I'll get to that. Dr. Cain used the plans for X to create a new form of robots called Reploids, capable of all ranges of human features. But a virus got out that infected the Reploids causing them to

ignore the first rule of robotics."

"What's the first rule?" Sonic asked.

"That a robot cannot harm a human." Ciel explained. "A powerful reploid by the name of Sigma was infected with the virus and began to spread it across the planet creating an army of Mavericks. X and Zero fought against Sigma and were able to defeat him several times and eventually destroyed him forever. After this, X and Zero went missing. Havoc broke out without the two Maverick Hunters, and in the midst of it I created the Copy X. Who was able to eliminate most all Mavericks and build Neo Arcadia."

"Where's the problem come in?" Snake asked.

"A massive energy shortage has been ravaging the planet, and X has begun to destroy innocent Reploids claiming that they are Mavericks. I've been trying to create a new energy source to stop the shortage, and the Resistance has been fighting Neo Arcadia in our struggle for survival. We realized something needed to be done, we needed a savior."

"So you found Zero." Sonic said piecing it all together.

"Yes." Ciel nodded her head. "Tell me though, how is it you didn't know about Neo Arcadia?"

The team explained how they had been sent through time, Ciel and Zero found it hard to believe.

"20XX?" Zero asked. "And you said you remember me from that time?"

Samus nodded his head.

Zero walked to the back of the room with his hand on his head.

"We'd love to stay and help you fight Neo Arcadia." Cloud said to Ciel. "But we have to get back to our time."

"Of course." Ciel bowed her head.

"Where do we go?" Samus asked.

"The answer is in Hyrule." Cloud said.


	30. Lost Levels: Chapter 15

Chapter Fifteen: The one who bears the Triforce

Samus set a teleport for Hyrule and fired it into a clear spot in the room. The team began to walk through. They arrived in the valley that they first arrived in when they went through time.

"Okay," Sonic said looking around. "My guess is this valley is the crater from when Meteor struck."

The team looked around. "Yeah, Sonic's right." Snake said.

"Only thing is," Cloud said sitting down. "How do we go back?"

"I would also like to know." A voice said.

The team looked up at each other, they knew whose voice that was. They all looked up at Sephiroth who was walking down the crater.

Cloud jumped to his feet and grabbed the Master Sword.

"I have more entertaining things to do then fight you." Sephiroth said raising his hands.

"I don't." Cloud said pointing the Master Sword at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth sighed, and charged at the team. Cloud pulled the Master Sword up and prepared to attack, when light surrounded the team. When the light faded the team and Sephiroth stood in a large room in a castle of gray bricks. A red carpet went from a door behind the team and Sephiroth to a large chair in the middle of the room.

"What is this?" Cloud asked looking around.

Sephiroth took a step forward and bent over in pain. "What is happening?" He managed to say under the pain. He stood straight and extended his right hand, light shone from the Triforce of Power, and a solid gold form rose out of his hand. Sephiroth screamed as the form grew wings and shot from Sephiroth, leaving him wingless, and in his normal clothes. The form flew to the ground, and an explosion of light filled the room.

"What's happening?" Sonic shouted.

Sephiroth fell to the ground clutching his right hand.

The light faded, and Ganondorf stood in the middle of the room.

"At last," Ganondorf took a deep sigh. "I have finally arrived."

"Ganondorf?" Cloud asked.

Ganondorf smiled. "Yes, it is really I."

"My lord Ganondorf!" A creature with a human body and a dogface stepped into the room and bowed. "We have her."

Ganondorf walked toward the dog faced man. "Excellent."

"Ganondorf!" Samus shouted. "What's going on?"

Ganondorf turned and looked at the team. "My plan is unfolding perfectly young bounty hunter."

"What?" Samus asked.

Ganondorf reached behind his back and pulled out a green book with an image of the Triforce on the cover and illegible text. "Behold," Ganondorf said stroking the cover of the book. "The Book of Mudora. This book tells all things, things are were, are, and have yet to be. It told me of the teleports, and that I would use the teleports to my advantage and take control of team of villains."

"Wait," Sonic interrupted. "You mean you were in charge the whole time?"

Ganondorf smiled. "Yes, it was I who found Eve. But I made it appear that she was the one in charge so my goal could be accomplished."

"And what was that?" Snake asked.

"For Sephiroth to strike me down with the Master Sword." Ganondorf looked down at Sephiroth. "You see, when Sephiroth stole the Triforce of Power he also took my soul along with it. That is the same reason that when Cloud pulled the Triforce of Wisdom from you Sephiroth, you saw the image of Princess Zelda."

"But Aya said she killed Eve already, seven years back from 20XX." Sonic said.

Ganondorf smiled. "The book also told me of a greater power than the teleports. You see, when Sephiroth summoned the Calamity From the Skies, he summoned more than a mere meteor."

Cloud looked up at Ganondorf. "What do you mean?"

Ganondorf smiled. "He summoned the creature Lavos."

"Lavos?" Samus asked.

"With Lavos came the Gates, riffs in time that allows a person to travel through them. With the power of the teleports and the Book of Mudora I came across this." Ganondorf held up a blue key. "The Gate Key, this allows me to open the Gates and travel through time at will. With this I went and got Eve before she died."

"But, how did you travel through time before Lavos came to Hyrule?" Sonic asked.

Ganondorf laughed. "Isn't it obvious?"

"He's not from 20XX." Cloud realized.

Two dog faced guards walked into the room pushing a red haired woman in a red dress.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I have things to attend to." Ganondorf walked to the woman.

The woman struggled in the arms of the guards.

"Princess Zelda, it has been to long." Ganondorf said standing in front of the woman.

Sonic looked at the woman. "That's not Zelda."

"It's the Zelda of this generation." Samus explained.

"Then where's the Link of this generation?" Sonic asked.

Samus sighed. "Sephiroth killed the first Link."

Sephiroth was on one knee still trying to regain his strength.

The woman still struggled. "I will not give you the Triforce of Wisdom!"

Ganondorf smiled. "Of course you won't."

Light shone from Zelda. "I separate the Triforce of Wisdom into eight shards!" An image of a golden triangle appeared in the air, a large crack went down the center of it. "Scatter across the land, to be found by the Hero!" The Triforce of Wisdom shattered and began to fly about the room, as Ganondorf threw a hand into the air stopping it.

"Sorry Princess," Ganondorf smiled. "But your plan has failed." The shards of the Triforce flew into Ganondorf's hand.

"Why are standing around?" Sonic asked. "Let's attack him!"

"He's right," Cloud thought. "We are just standing around."

The league ran forward to attack Ganondorf as light shot from him. The league was thrown backward to the wall. Ganondorf looked down at his hand as the Triforces of Power and Wisdom shone. "You realize you cannot defeat me." Ganondorf looked over at the team. "Only the one who wields the Sword of Evil's Bane can defeat me."

Cloud pointed the Master Sword at Ganondorf. "I'm right here."

Ganondorf laughed. "You may use the Master Sword but you do not wield it. Even now, the Triforce of Courage is leaving you."

Cloud looked down at his hand, the image of the Triforce began to fade. "What?" Light shot from Cloud leaving him wingless and in his normal clothes.

Ganondorf turned back to Zelda and his guards. "You are now needless Princess." Ganondorf threw his hand into the air and Zelda's neck snapped; the guards carried her body off. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have business that needs attending to. Guards, get rid of them." The room filled with dog faced guards.

"You think these Moblins are enough to stop us Ganondorf?" Samus shouted.

Ganondorf turned around. "Ah yes, where are my manners?" Ganondorf held a hand out at Samus. Samus began to fall to the ground struggling to stay up.

"What happened?" Cloud asked running over to Samus.

"He's…deactivated the anti-gravity…module in my suit." Samus fell to his knees. "Without it this suit weighs a ton."

Ganondorf smiled and walked out of the room.

The Moblins walked toward the team pointing spears directly at them.

"Don't worry about me," Samus said trying not to fall completely to the ground. "Fight."

Cloud nodded and pulled out both his swords.

The team fought as best as they could but were overwhelmed by the sheer number of the Moblin guards.

Samus slowly lifted his gun and tried to fire at the guards. Cloud managed to take out several at a time wielding both swords. Snake used the gun he got from Fefnir to take out a good number. Sonic had the hardest time out them all. He only had his fists and his speed to take out the guards. Sephiroth stared down at his hand, clenched his fist, stood, and grasped his sword. He began to strike the guards many at a time with his long blade.

Samus slowly steadied his gun fired at the guards slowly one at time, when suddenly, he shot up and moved easily. "The emergency power kicked in" Samus began to fight once more.

"A little help!" Sonic shouted trying to fight off the guards.

"Sonic, catch!" Cloud turned and threw the Master Sword into the air towards Sonic. It flew straight towards Sonic before it hit an invisible object in the air and began to spin down towards him. Sonic caught the blade and began to slash at the guards.

Electricity fired from where the Master Sword struck the air, and a blue vortex opened making the same sound as before. The team looked up into the waving space and knew they had their exit.

"Everyone into the vortex!" Cloud shouted slashing some guards before jumping in. Sonic grabbed Snake and jumped in as well. Samus jumped up and stood on the edge of the portal and looked down into the fight.

Sephiroth remained in the melee fighting off the horde of guards alone. Samus sighed and extended his left arm towards Sephiroth. A small gun on his arm fired a continuous blue beam that grabbed onto Sephiroth. Samus pulled his arm back flinging Sephiroth into the portal. The two stared at each other as Sephiroth passed Samus. "I had better not regret this." Samus said jumping into the portal moments before it closed.


	31. Lost Levels: Chapter 16

Chapter sixteen: The Chrono Trigger

The team and Sephiroth appeared on a strange dock like platform that had a street light in the middle with an old man sleeping underneath it. There was also a door behind him, a set of stairs leading down into nothing, and a metallic bucket sat in the corner. All around them was wavy darkness

"Where are we?" Sonic asked walking around.

Snake walked in front of the old man who stood asleep under the streetlight. "Excuse me." Snake said. The man didn't move. "Sir." Snake said a little louder. The old man mumbled something softly and slowly opened his eyes.

"What's this?" The man groggily said looking around.

"Where are we?" Snake asked the man.

"You are nowhere and everywhere." The man said slowly falling asleep again.

Cloud put his hand on the man's shoulder slightly shaking him.

"Dear me, was I falling asleep?" The man asked looking around.

"Where are we?" Snake asked the man once more.

The man coughed. "The question is not where but when."

Sonic walked up to the man. "When are we then?"

The man looked down at Sonic. "You are never."

"Stop speaking in riddles." Snake grabbed the man by his shoulders.

"To be specific," The man said pushing Snake away from him. "You are in the End of Time."

"What do you mean?" Samus said walking over to him.

"You have traveled to the point when time ends. Nothing more will happen, the end." The man yawned. "But don't fret," The man pointed over at where the team and Sephiroth first appeared from. "From there you can go to specific places in time. Or," The man pointed to the stair steps. "You can take the time machine." Samus walked over to the edge of the dock and looked down at a white aircraft with long black wings. "Another team of travelers left that here for a while. I don't see any harm in you using it. I think they called it the 'Epoch'."

Samus walked back to the team and fell. "The gravity is gone again. The emergency power is spent."

"That suit needs to be fixed. That'll be our fist priority." Cloud said sitting down and noticing Sephiroth Cloud stood back up. "How did you get here?"

"I brought him." Samus said struggling to stay up. "Emergency suit removal." He said to his suit.

Sephiroth walked to the area from where they came.

"Where are you going?" Sonic asked Sephiroth.

Sephiroth continued walking forward. "I'm going to take back the Triforce of Power."

"You're no match for Ganondorf." Snake said. "None of us are now."

Sephiroth slowly turned. "I've killed him before."

"Voice recognition password." Samus's suit said.

Samus hesitated for a moment. "Justin Bailey." Air shot from the joints of the power suit, the team and Sephiroth stood and looked as the suit folded and slowly came to the ground. Their eyes widened as Samus stood.

Snake smiled. "I thought so."

She wore a black bikini underneath the armor, she was really fit, and her skin was really fair for being an intergalactic bounty hunter. Her hands reached up and removed the helmet. Long blonde hair fell.

There was a brief silence.

"Dude!" Sonic shouted. "Samus is a chick!"

"You haven't killed Ganondorf before Sephiroth" Samus said stepping out from the armor on the ground. "You were a pawn in his game. For now, why don't we work together for a common goal?"

Sephiroth looked across the team and thought. "I will not join your team." Sephiroth looked directly at Cloud. "I care nothing for your cause. All I seek is the Triforce of Power that was stolen from me." Sephiroth looked around the team again and lowered his head. "And it seems, that the path to the Triforce lies in your company. I will not join your 'league', but for the time I shall fight with you, until the Triforce is mine once more."

Samus smiled. "Good enough. Now, we need Link."

"But Link is dead." Cloud said after he came to terms with Samus.

"We have time travel on our side." Samus reminded Cloud. "We can go back and get Link before he died."

"I wouldn't recommend that." The old man said.

The team turned and looked at the old man. "Messing to much with time can be a dangerous thing."

"Then what do you suggest we do?" Sonic asked the man.

The man smiled. "I just so happen to have a device that can solve your problems." The old man held out his hand showed a golden egg.

"What is it?" Sonic asked.

"This is the Chrono Trigger or the Time Egg. It will allow you to bring your friend back." The man explained.

"How does it work?" Samus asked.

"First, you must get a doll of your friend, then take the doll and the Chrono Trigger to the top of Death Peak. There it will happen." The man explained.

The team thought about this.

"We need Link." Cloud said.

"My suit needs to be fixed first." Samus said looking down at her suit. "I'll need advanced machinery."

"How about Dr. Light's." Sonic suggested. "And then we can get Aya and Otacon."

Samus shook her head. "Light doesn't have the right technology."

"Does Ciel?" Snake asked.

Samus sighed. "It's my best option." Samus walked over to her suit and picked up her gun arm. "I just hope there's enough energy left."

"For what?" Sonic asked.

"My gun carries extra energy in it so I can use it if I have to remove my suit." Samus fired a teleport at her suit sending it into the time machine. Samus sat in the machine and worked the controls.

"Samus!" Cloud said walking over to the ship. "Give them some extra time, so maybe the fight against Neo Arcadia can be finished."

Samus nodded and set the machine for two years after they had first arrived. Samus flipped the main switch forward and the machine shot forward in a blast of light.

The ship appeared over the resistance base in 22XX, a lone guard stood at the main entrance. Samus took the ship down to him.

"Who are you?" The green clad reploid asked pointing a gun at Samus as the glass on the top of the ship opened.

"I'm Samus Aran, I'm here to see Ms. Ciel."

The guard lowered his gun. "Samus, I remember you. The resistance moved out of this base about two years ago. I'll give you the coordinates for the new base."

Samus flew over Megaman's world that still lay in destruction to the new resistance base. She lowered the ship and went inside.

Ciel came up to meet her. "Samus, it has been a long time. What's happened to your armor?"

"The anti-gravity module is out of power, I need to fix it."

Ciel nodded. "I understand. I'll send some people to retrieve it and take it to the lab."

Samus smiled. "Thanks." Samus looked forward at Zero who stood behind Ciel.

"This time I remember you." Zero said.

Resistance guards carried Samus's suit down to the lab where she began to work on it for several hours with Ciel.

"I've never seen anything like this in my life." Ciel said looking over Samus's suit. "Where did you get it?"

Samus worked on her suit for a while more before answering. "I once lived on a peaceful space station named K-DL, but it was attacked by Space Pirates. I was raised by a race of highly advanced bird people called the Chozo. I became infused with their blood, and was raised as a warrior. They built this power suit for me, so I could fight and destroy the Space Pirates."

"Good story." Zero said standing in the doorway.

Ciel stood up. "Zero, how long have you been there?"

"Long enough to hear her story." Zero placed a metal cylinder on the working table. "Here are the energy crystals you asked for."

Ciel smiled. "Thank you Zero."

Zero looked down at Samus. "You said you met me in the 20XX."

Samus nodded. "That's right."

"I've regained much of my memory, I still don't recall anything from that time." Zero held his head. "I want to go with you."

"Zero?" Ciel asked worried.

"I want to know who I am, how I was created." Zero looked down at Samus again. "And my answers lie with you. Take me with you."

Samus stood. "Are you sure? You don't need to stay here and help the resistance?"

"We have even terms with Neo Arcadia for the time." Zero said.

Samus thought for a moment and smiled. "All right," She extended her hand. "Welcome aboard."

Zero smiled and shook Samus's hand.

Ciel and Samus got back to work on the Power Suit and in no time had it ready to go once more. Samus stepped into the suit and it climbed back up onto her. She put her hair up and slid on the helmet.

"Good as new." Samus said looking at the suit.

"So you'll be going then?" Ciel asked.

Samus nodded her head.

"You're sure you're going to go Zero?" Samus asked the red robot.

Zero sighed. "I have to if I want to know who I am."

"What if you get attacked?" Samus asked.

"That's been taken care of." A familiar voice said.

Samus turned to see Harpuia walking toward her. "The resistance is under my and the other Guardians watch."

"A lot must have happened in those two years." Samus said as Leviathan and Fefnir teleported in. "Where's Phantom?"

"He met his end." Harpuia explained.

"That's unfortunate." Samus said. "Anyway, we must be going." Samus and Zero walked back to the time machine and stepped inside.

"Zero!" A voice shouted.

Zero looked out into the crowd, a reploid with a red visor over his eyes ran up to the ship.

"Cerveau," Zero said looking down at the scientist. "What is it?"

"I wanted to catch you before you left." The reploid held up two devices to Zero. "I've fixed your two older weapons, the Triple Rod and the Chain Rod."

Zero smiled as he took the weapons. "Thanks."

The machine rose to the air and shot forward to the End of Time.

"Good to see the suits working again." Sonic said as Samus climbed back up the stairs. "Is that Zero?" He asked as Zero followed.

"Zero will be joining us now." Samus explained.

"Our numbers increase." Cloud said looking over the team and laying a foul eye on Sephiroth.

"Let's get working on getting Link back." Snake suggested.

"Where are we going to find a doll of Link though?" Sonic asked.

"I know where." Samus said.

"Where?" Sonic asked again.

"Remember when I told you about that tournament I was summoned to, and the creature that ran it?" Samus asked.

Sonic thought for a moment. "You mean Master Hand?"

Samus nodded. "He keeps trophies in the forms of the combatants and other various items."

"So we go and ask Master Hand if he'll give us his Link trophy?" Cloud asked.

"Basically yes." Samus answered.

"Will he give it to us freely?" Snake asked.

"Probably not." Samus said.

"Who's Link?" Zero asked.

"A fighter who was on our team before he was killed by Sephiroth." Samus explained.

"I haven't been told the whole story yet." Zero said.

Samus explained the situation to Zero.

"So," Zero said piecing the story together. "Link was killed by that guy over there?" Zero pointed at Sephiroth.

"Yes." Samus nodded.

"And Sephiroth killed Ganondorf who was actually living inside of Sephiroth waiting until he took him to 20XX Hyrule to be free and conquer that time?"

"Pretty much." Sonic said.

"Hmm, I think I understand." Zero said thinking some more.

"So where do we find Master Hand?" Cloud asked.

Samus got into the time machine. "He lives in a plane called 'Final Destination'." Samus set the coordinates. "I'll set the time for after the last tournament."

The team and Sephiroth climbed into the time machine and blasted to the Final Destination.

The machine appeared over a black platform with bright purple lights around it in an area of open space. Samus took the ship down over the platform and the team and Sephiroth climbed out.

"Where's this Master Hand?" Sonic asked looking over the edge of the platform.

Samus walked into the middle of the platform. "Master Hand!"

A silence followed.

"We have come for the trophy of Link!" She shouted.

Laughter filled the vast space that surrounded them. "Do you think I will give it to you?"

Samus shook her head. "No."

The voice laughed again. "I will give you the trophy on one condition."

"What do you ask of us?" Samus shouted.

"You must compete in a tournament amongst yourselves." The voice bellowed through the space.

"What?" Sonic shouted.

"The winner of the tournament shall fight me. The losers of each round will become trophies for my collection. Should the winner defeat me I shall return you all to your original forms and give you the trophy of Link." The voice explained.

The team and Sephiroth considered this.

"It's either this or nothing." Samus said. "We need Link."

"But what if we all lose?" Snake asked.

Cloud sighed. "Then we were never meant to win."

The team looked around at each other and agreed.

"We will fight your tournament!" Samus shouted.

The voice laughed. "Excellent. First round shall go as thus! Sephiroth versus Solid Snake!"

Sephiroth and Snake looked across at each other.

"Cloud Strife versus Zero! And Samus Aran versus Sonic the Hedgehog!"

The team looked around the area at their combatants.


	32. Lost Levels: Chapter 17

Chapter Seventeen: Super Smash Brothers

"I trust you remember the rules Samus?" The voice asked. "I will let you explain them."

Samus sighed. "This world is different from all of ours. In this world you cannot die, the goal is to knock your opponent out of bounds. This can be done by any way you wish. The more you attack your opponent the easier it will be to knock them off the platform. You can jump a total of three times in this world. A basic jump, a second air jump, and a third attacking jump." Samus looked up into the air. "Did I miss anything?"

"No, that will do fine." The voice said chuckling. "Let this tournament of brothers begin!"

The team disappeared except for Sephiroth and Snake.

"Ready?" The voice asked. "Go!"

Sephiroth and Snake looked across at each other.

"If we have no choice." Snake said preparing to fight.

"Then we must fight." Sephiroth grabbed his sword and stuck it into the ground. Snake pulled off all of his weapons and threw them to the ground.

The two charged at each other and began to fight hand to hand. Snake punched at Sephiroth who managed to dodge and block the attacks and the same went for Sephiroth's attacks. The two pulled away from each other and charged again.

Snake threw his fist at Sephiroth who managed to dodge. Sephiroth grabbed Snake's arm and threw him to the ground. Snake pulled himself up from the ground as Sephiroth kicked where he was. Snake spun around and kicked Sephiroth across the face. While Sephiroth was stunned Snake came around and grabbed Sephiroth by his head and gripped him across the chest by his shoulder. Snake began to pull at Sephiroth's head a couple of times before a loud cracking sound was made. Sephiroth's body fell to the ground.

"Lucky for you," Snake said lighting a cigarette. "You can't die here."

Sephiroth began to stand up. "Indeed." Sephiroth moved his head from side to side cracking it back into place. Sephiroth turned around and faced Snake.

Snake sucked on his cigarette a few more times before he threw it over the edge of the platform.

"Shall we continue?" Snake asked.

"You realize I was testing you before?" Sephiroth asked.

"Of course I do." Snake smiled and charged at Sephiroth.

Sephiroth grabbed Snake's hand in mid charge, pulled it straight, and thrust his other hand at the elbow breaking it in two. Sephiroth let go of Snake's arm that instantly snapped back together. Snake grabbed his arm in pain. Sephiroth began to pelt Snake with punches and kicks and then drew his right arm back and thrust an open palmed hit into Snake's chest. Snake went flying toward the edge of the ring. Snake managed to stop himself before he completely fell over. When he gained his balance again Sephiroth dashed in front of him and uppercut him into the air. Snake went flying through the air a bright shine appeared at where he was in the air, followed by a large green explosion.

Sephiroth smiled, picked up his sword, slashed in the air twice and placed it on his belt.

Sephiroth disappeared from the arena and Cloud and Zero both appeared.

"Ready?" The voice asked. "Go!"

Cloud and Zero looked across at each other.

"Have I fought you before as well?" Zero asked.

Cloud sighed. "Yeah."

Zero smiled. "How'd I do?"

Cloud smiled and grabbed his Buster Sword. "You did pretty good."

Zero ignited his beam saber and stood ready to fight. "Let's see if I've lost anything since then."

The two dashed toward each other and clashed their blades. Zero jumped back a short distance.

"You're sword is still in one piece?" Zero asked looking over the sword.

"I guess things can't be broken in this world either." Cloud said readying his sword again.

Zero smiled. "Even better."

The two ran forward and began to beat their swords together. Zero managed to dodge a lot of Cloud's attacks but did get struck a lot of the time, the same going for Cloud. Cloud thrust his sword down on Zero who managed to block it with his. Zero struggled his sword above his head to keep Cloud's sword from reaching it. Zero then lowered his right hand from his sword and grabbed an object that looked like his sword's hilt. When he ignited it though, the blade of light went horizontally across the top like a nightstick. Zero thrust the blade into Cloud's body knocking him back a distance. Zero then deactivated his sword and placed the hilt in a holster on his leg, he then grabbed another beam nightstick and began to thrust the both of them into Cloud's stomach repeatedly. Zero then brought the two blades back and thrust them both forward causing a flash of energy that sent Cloud flying backward. Cloud thrust the Buster Sword into the ground causing to stop before he went over the edge.

"More than one weapon eh?" Cloud said holding his stomach.

Zero smiled. "Yeah," Zero held the two nightsticks up. "These are called the Recoil Rods." Zero put the two rods back in their holsters and pulled out his sword again. "And this, is the Z-Saber."

"Any other weapons?" Cloud asked.

Zero thought for a moment. "Well there is my Z-Buster." Zero reached into a holster on his leg and pulled out a black pistol like what Fefnir gave Snake. Zero fired a charged shot at Cloud who managed to dodge it.

Cloud dashed at Zero and thrust his sword out. Zero dodged the blade and thrust his saber into Cloud's back. Cloud stumbled from the attack but spun around and struck Zero with his blade. Zero flew back but stopped himself on the arena. Green energy formed around Cloud as he thrust his right hand forward. A bolt of lightning came down from the skies toward Zero. Zero put his right arm over his head as the bolt came crashing down. Cloud was shocked when Zero stood without damage. On Zero's arm was a spinning green circle. Zero flung his arm forward and the green circle went whizzing toward Cloud, who easily dodged it.

"What was that supposed to do?" Cloud arrogantly asked.

Zero stood straight and smiled. Cloud instantly realized what was happening and turned around as the circle of energy struck him coming the opposite direction.

Zero held out his hand and caught the circle and put it behind his back. "This is my last weapon, the Shield Boomerang." Zero smiled.

Cloud stood slightly hunched over.

"You alright?" Zero asked.

Cloud slowly turned, his eyes could pierce the skin. "You've broken my limit."

Zero took a step back. "What are you talking about?"

Red energy shot from Cloud, wind began to whirl across the arena. Cloud held his sword horizontally over his head and then held it forward toward Zero.

Cloud shot like a rocket at Zero and began to slash at him numerous amounts of times, each time hitting and doing a substantial amount of damage. Cloud struck Zero nineteen times and then jumped into the air above him. Zero looked up at Cloud as he came down and smashed his sword into Zero for the twentieth hit. Zero went flying from the arena exploding in green light.

Cloud punched up into the air twice, spun his sword in the air and placed his sword on his back.

Cloud vanished from the arena, and Samus and Sonic appeared.

Sonic looked around. "How did this get arranged?"

Samus sighed. "I don't want to fight you either Sonic, but we have no choice."

Sonic walked around the arena. "Better make it quick Samus," Sonic stood next to the edge of the arena. "I'm no match for you."

Samus aimed her gun at Sonic. "I'm sorry Sonic." Samus fired a blast at Sonic, at the last instant Sonic appeared at the side of the blast as it went whizzing by.

Samus looked at Sonic and then at her gun.

"What are you shooting at?" Sonic asked. "I'm right here."

Samus aimed her gun again she fired, and missed again.

Sonic smiled. "You're supposed to shoot at the ground if you want me to dance."

Samus aimed and fired, but continued to miss.

"Geez, is this how you caught those bounties?" Sonic chuckled. "I can see why the heads would give in and get caught."

Samus aimed her gun one more time and fired a charged shot. The blast sped through the air but hit nothing; Sonic was no longer in the area she was shooting.

"Oh, remember when I said I was no match for you?" Samus turned around to see Sonic lying on the ground. "Yeah, that was a lie."

Samus began to shoot at Sonic as he ran all around the arena.

"My granny has better aim than you!" Sonic taunted.

Samus shifted her gun to missile launcher. She followed Sonic as he ran across the arena and got a lock on him. She fired a missile that followed Sonic around the arena.

Sonic smiled as the missile chased him. Sonic jumped off the edge of the arena, kicked off the missile sending it plummeting downward and landed back on the platform.

Samus was amazed at Sonic's ability.

Sonic ran pointer finger back and forth under his nose. "What? Think all I was good for was distractions?"

Samus extended her left arm and fired a blue stream of energy. Sonic ran safely to the other end of the arena. Samus whirled her arm around and brought the whip of energy into contact with Sonic. Samus flung her arm in the opposite direction throwing Sonic across the arena and off the platform.

Sonic jumped in midair to send himself back at the arena, he then lifted his hand above his head and thrust forward in the shape of a ball. He went flying through the air and struck Samus knocking her to the ground.

Samus stood up and pointed her gun at Sonic. Sonic smiled stretched his legs.

"Ready for the end?" Sonic said.

Samus fired a shot at Sonic who instantly vanished. All Samus could see was a blue circle around her. Samus spun around watching the circle, as winds began to whirl around the arena. The winds began to whirl at a massive speed, and Samus was slowly lifted up off her feet. Samus began to fire at the blue circle hoping to once hit Sonic but missed each time.

Sonic laughed. "You'll never be able to hit me!" Sonic said running around in a circle. "While I'm running I'm also vibrating my body at a super fast pace! You're shots go right through me!" Sonic began to run faster and a large twister began to form in the arena with Samus in the center of it. Samus was spun around and around by the tornado.

"Ready for the stop?" Sonic shouted.

Samus smiled under her helmet. "Yeah." Samus curled up and became a small ball. A charge of energy was released from her that slowly began to whirl around in the typhoon. The small device whirred and finally clicked.

A large flash of energy filled the arena that alarmed Sonic and took his attention off of vibrating his body. The blast struck Sonic and sent him flying. Samus landed on the ground and took a moment to orient herself. Samus looked over at Sonic who was slowly getting up off the ground, Samus quickly ran to him and picked him up. She tossed him in the air a short distance and fired a super missile at him. Sonic was still disoriented and didn't have time to dodge the attack. The missile struck and sent him flying out of the ring with a green explosion.

Samus placed her hand on her hip and flexed her gun arm.

Sephiroth and Cloud appeared in the arena.

"Round one is finished!" Boomed the voice.

Sephiroth, Cloud, and Samus all looked around at each other.

"Hmm," The voice thought for a moment. "We are short a fighter for round two."

The three of them disappeared and Snake, Zero, and Sonic appeared in the arena.

"Congratulations," The voice said cheerfully. "You have another shot in this tournament."

"What's going on?" Snake asked. "How can we get back in?"

The voice chuckled. "I like to call it, Melee. The three of you will all fight each other to claim a spot back in the tournament."

"All of us will fight at the same time?" Zero asked.

"Of course." The voice said. "Ready?"

The three looked around at each other.

"Go!"

The three were hesitant to fight.

"Three at the same time, who to take on first?" Zero said looking around.

Snake smiled. "I guess that's where the trick comes in."

Zero pulled out his Z-Buster. "The weakest one will fall first." Zero pointed his gun at Sonic.

Snake snapped up his buster. "Zero!"

"It doesn't matter which of us wins Snake." Zero said looking at him while still aiming his gun at Sonic. "All that matters is that it is a good fight." Zero smiled and fired a blast at Sonic. Snake fired at Zero as he shot Sonic, Zero spun around to dodge the blast and shot forward a chain of green light with a spike of energy at the tip. The spike lodged into Snakes buster, Zero pulled the chain back and ripped Snakes gun out of his hands. Sonic dashed at Zero who managed to dodge him and fired a blast at Snake. Snake managed to doge the blast and began to fire normal bullets from an automatic rifle. The bullets had no effect on Zero. Zero dashed at Zero and punched Snake in the chest. Snake flew back a short distance but didn't fall.

Sonic came dashing back around Zero and began to assault him with punches. Zero turned and began to fight against Sonic, even though he could not keep up with him. Snake aimed his STINGER missile launcher at Zero and followed him carefully. Snake locked on and fired the long rocket. Zero saw the missile flying toward him at the last moment. Zero stepped to the side of it, and brought his fist down on the back end of the missile causing it to somersault back toward Snake.

Snake was startled, Zero pulled the exact same maneuver when he fought against him in Dr. Wily's lab. Snake jumped to the side to avoid the missile, as Zero dashed forward and uppercut him on the jaw. Snake went flying into the air, and Zero began to glow with energy as he pulled out the Recoil Rods. Zero pulled back his arms and thrust the two pikes of energy into Snake. The explosive force created by the impact sent Snake flying through the air, and becoming an explosion of green light.

"Snake!" Sonic shouted into the empty space.

Zero placed the Rods back in their holsters. "Don't worry Sonic, you'll see him again when we defeat Master Hand."

Sonic turned his gaze toward Zero. "You will pay for that."

Zero looked around. "For what?"

"Have you no remorse?" Sonic shouted.

"He is not dead yet Sonic." Zero put out his hand. "You heard Samus, as long as one of us beats Master Hand we still have a chance."

"But to fight him so openly without a care," Sonic sneered at Zero. "You haven't changed at all."

Zero was taken back. "What do you mean?"

"Back when we first fought you in 20XX, you were the same mindless machine of violence."

"Mindless machine?"

"You destroyed at will, what ever got in your path you destroyed."

Zero looked down at Sonic, he was speechless. "You lie."

"You're no different from the day you were first activated."

Zero took several steps back. "What did you say?"

Sonic eyed Zero curiously. "You haven't changed since the day you were activated."

Zero slowly walked back to Sonic. "You were there, the day I first woke?"

Sonic nodded. "We all were."

Zero's mind was reeling, all of the questions, who he was, where he came from, who created him, all were so close to being answered.

"Tell me Sonic," Zero said nervously. "Who created me?"

Sonic was about to say, but stopped. Zero truly had no memory of the deeds he did as a mindless drone of chaos. To learn that he was created by an evil genius for the sheer purpose of destruction would shatter his entire grasp of reality. Sonic had no right to do that, he had already said too much. He needed to fix this wrong.

"You were created by…Dr. Light." Sonic lied.

Zero stood up and pointed his head to the sky. "Light? The same man who made X? Why didn't he ever tell me? And, why was I made for destruction?"

"You weren't, I lied out of anger." Sonic continued to lie.

Zero sat on the ground and placed his head in his hands, suddenly, he snapped his head up. "No," Zero stood back up. "Dr. Light didn't make me."

Sonic panicked. "What are you talking about? I was there!"

Zero nervously looked around the room. He put a hand on his head, his breath quickened. "It's coming back to me," Zero clenched his eyes shut. "An old scientist, an ancient laboratory." Zero put his other hand on his head. Images flashed through his head. An old balding scientist, a construction table, a blue robot, a group of men, swords, missiles, destruction, death, X. Zero screamed into the air clutching his head. Zero fell to his knees and grinded his head into the ground.

Sonic nervously walked up to Zero. "You okay?"

Zero laid still. He slowly raised his body up. "They've stopped. What? What stopped?" Zero looked around. "What just happened?"

"We're fighting, to get Link back." Sonic said placing a hand on Zero's shoulder.

"Fighting…" Zero stood up. "It's what I've always done."

Sonic looked up at him.

"Yes, I'm fine." Zero took a deep breath. "Sorry about that, whatever it was."

"It's alright." Sonic said with a smile. "Shall we get back to the fight?"

Zero smiled. "Yes, we shall." Zero's Saber ripped through the air striking Sonic and sending him a short distance back. Sonic landed and began to run around in circles, the same technique he used against Samus. Zero pulled out his buster and began to fire into the blue blur around him.

"Can't hit me!" Sonic shouted as he ran. "Am I going to fast for you?"

"Not for long." Zero held out his hand, and a blue sparkle of light shone in the air. The light flew around Zero increasing in speed. The world around him began to blur into a mosaic. When it realigned itself, Sonic was able to be seen clearly by the naked eye, and moving at an incredibly slow rate. Zero walked over to the path Sonic was taking, when Sonic saw Zero in his path he began to change direction. All of Sonic's movements were very slow. As Sonic moved past Zero, Zero ignited his Z-Saber and began to hack and slash at the temporally slowed Sonic. Sonic took each blow there was nothing else he could do. After striking Sonic several times Zero pulled his saber up over his head and he began to glow with energy. The slowed Sonic was still reacting to hits that had been dealt several moments before. In a flash Sonic was able to move freely once more, he looked up as Zero's charged blade came crashing down onto him shattering the ground as it struck. Sonic went flying from the arena exploding into green light.

Zero turned off his blade and put it in his holster. He looked over his shoulder, and gave a thumb up.

Cloud, Sephiroth, and Samus all reappeared in the arena.

"Congratulations Zero!" The voice boomed. "You are back in the tournament."

Zero looked around the arena.

"The second round will follow as this, Cloud Strife versus Sephiroth, and Samus Aran versus Zero!"

Samus and Zero vanished from the arena leaving only Cloud and Sephiroth.

"Ready? Go!"

"Didn't we just have this fight?" Sephiroth asked grasping his sword.

Cloud pulled his sword out and gripped the hilt tightly. "Yeah, though now we're on more even terms."

Sephiroth smiled. "You realize you won't win?"

Cloud sneered at Sephiroth. "Yes I will."

Cloud dashed at Sephiroth and began to swipe his large sword at him. Sephiroth managed to block the strikes with ease.

"Now you are just a normal man," Sephiroth spun and leapt a distance away from Cloud. "But I am still a master of swords."

"Have you mastered magic?" Cloud thrust out his hand a wave of fire flew at Sephiroth. Sephiroth put out his hand, and a rainbow wall appeared in front of him to block the fire.

"Yes, yes I have." Sephiroth leapt again at Cloud.

Cloud blocked Sephiroth's attacks, and the two went around the arena clashing blades. Cloud would smash his Buster Sword down at Sephiroth, who would manage to dodge it easily. With his long katana, Sephiroth was able to attack Cloud from greater distances, he would also jump up to Cloud, strike, and then leap back. Sephiroth meant it when he said he was a master of swords. Sephiroth and Cloud continued to attack with the same undying ferocity. Cloud spun around and smashed his sword into Sephiroth's back with a slim open time. Sephiroth hit the ground and got back up within the same moment and swiped his sword at Cloud's legs. Cloud fell to the ground but managed to spin while in fall and kick Sephiroth in the head. Sephiroth tumbled a short distance before he leapt into the air and stabbed his sword in to Cloud's back.

Cloud screamed in pain as Sephiroth ground the sword in deeper. Sephiroth let go of the sword and took a step back. Cloud writhed and screamed on the floor, he wished for death in his pain. Sephiroth smiled, he walked back to his sword and pulled it out. Cloud traveled up the blade a short distance before sliding off. Sephiroth pulled his foot back and kicked Cloud, sending him flying off the arena and exploding in green energy.

Sephiroth swung his sword through the air twice and put his sword on his belt.

Sephiroth vanished from the arena and Samus and Zero took his place.

Zero and Samus looked across at each other. "This time, our fight will finish." Zero smiled.

Samus held her gun up. "May the best warrior win."

"Ready?" The voice boomed. "Go!"

Samus and Zero dashed at each other, Zero ignited his blade and began to slash at Samus. Samus dodged the slashes and fired blasts at Zero. The two ran around the arena in close proximity slashing and firing for several minutes. Zero spun with his sword and kicked Samus in the chest. Samus slid back a short distance and fired a super missile at Zero. Zero dodged the missile and fired a shot from his buster destroying it. Samus ran up to Zero and smashed her gun into his face, releasing a blast of fire. Zero went flying back and stopped himself on the arena tossing the shield boomerang at Samus. Samus jumped over the disk and fired a charged shot at Zero. Zero jumped to avoid the blast and thrust out his Chain Rod at Samus. Samus tumbled in the air and landed on the ground to avoid the chain and shot her grapple beam at Zero, which caught him.

"Get over here!" Samus pulled her arm back flinging Zero to her. Samus then spun around and detached the grapple beam and sent Zero flying. Zero pulled out a long silver rod with a green pike of energy and thrust it into the ground stopping himself. Zero slid down the pole and pulled it from the ground.

"How many weapons do you have?" Samus asked as the beam slid back to her arm.

"It's not the weapons, it's the skill you have with them that matters." Zero spun the pole around in the air. Zero dashed at Samus with his green energy spiked pole and began to thrust it at her. Samus dodged the spike and then jumped back into the air and aimed her gun at Zero. Zero thrust the pole up at her but it was not long enough to reach her, until it grew a short distance three times and struck her. Samus was knocked back a short distance but not enough damage was done to stoop her. She curled up and went flying down at Zero surrounded by a field of energy that plowed right into Zero. Zero fell to the ground under the force of the attack. The wheel of energy began to move upward carrying Zero with it. The Samus uncurled herself, pulled her gun back and struck Zero in the chest sending him flying.

Zero shot his Chain Rod forward to try and catch the ground to pull himself back, but Samus fired a missile right as he shot the Rod forward. The Rod grasped the missile and carried him out further into the empty space. Zero detached the Chain Rod, and fell down into an explosion of Green light. Sephiroth appeared again in the arena.

"Ah, at last." The voice said. "It has come down to the semi-finals. Sephiroth versus Samus Aran."

The two fighters looked across the platform at each other.

"Ready? Go!"

Sephiroth leapt across the arena and large swiped at Samus. Samus was caught off guard but leapt back to avoid the slash. Sephiroth swung his long katana at Samus, and Samus put up her gun arm to block it. A large metallic clang rang through the air. Sephiroth stood there grinding his blade against Samus's gun.

"There is nothing my sword cannot cut." Sephiroth said applying more force to the blade.

"You have a lot of confidence in that big knife." Samus scoffed.

Sephiroth scowled at Samus and leapt back. He held the sword horizontally in the air. "Its name is Masamune, and it is a name you will never forget."

Samus laid her gun arm in her palm. She inspected where Masamune had struck, a scratch shone apart from the rest. "I'll hand it your big knife, it managed to scratch my power suit."

Sephiroth smiled. "By the end of this fight, you'll be lucky if you have any suit left."

Samus aimed her gun at Sephiroth and fired a charged shot. Sephiroth held out his hand, the blast struck an invisible wall.

Samus lowered her gun. "But how, you don't have the Triforce."

Sephiroth smiled. "The Triforce didn't give me magic, it made my magic more powerful." Sephiroth raised his hand and three bolts of lightning came crashing down and struck Samus. Samus fell to her knees and propped herself up with her gun arm. "Although it was already very strong. Back when Cloud was only starting to become a fighter I was as powerful."

"Yeah," Samus stood back up. "And then you burned his village to the ground."

Sephiroth turned his head to the right to look at Samus, it sat tilted to the left. A smile began to form on his lips. "Yes, yes I did."

"You find that funny?" Samus shouted.

"Not at all. I merely enjoy being reminded of my work."

"You're a monster."

"Am I?"

"You kill innocent people without any feeling!"

Sephiroth raised his head in surprise. "That's not true."

"You mean you care?"

Sephiroth smiled. "It's not true that I have no feeling."

"Then what do you feel when you kill?"

Sephiroth bowed his head. "Pleasure."

Samus raised her gun at Sephiroth again. "You monster!" The barrel of the gun opened and a missile shot out at Sephiroth. Sephiroth grabbed the hilt of Masamune and swung it through the air. The blade struck the missile cutting it in half, the two halves separated and flew by Sephiroth on each side of him, exploding after they had long passed.

Sephiroth again leapt at Samus slashing his sword at her. Samus blocked the blows with her gun when she could, but many times the blade struck various other parts of her power suit.

"What are you trying to do?" Samus asked trying to follow his sword pattern. "It's clear you're sword won't work!"

Sephiroth smiled and continued to slash. Sephiroth began to apply more force to his blows. Samus looked around and realized that she was being pushed back. Samus dodged out of Sephiroth's slashes and ran across the arena. Sephiroth slowly turned to face Samus. "What's wrong?"

"I know what you're up to." Samus aimed her gun at Sephiroth. "As long as I keep my distance you're powerless."

Sephiroth sighed. "You remember nothing." Green energy shone off of Sephiroth.

Samus quickly remembered that he could use magic and charged at him. Sephiroth held out his hand at Samus as she was in punching distance.

Everything went white.

Samus didn't know what was what. She must have fallen, her sight was parallel with the floor of the arena. But she didn't know how to get back up she was horribly confused. And her whole body ached, as if she was poisoned. A large black boot stepped directly in front of her. She could feel hands reach across her entire body, and she was lifted up into the air. She couldn't believe as she watched Sephiroth's entire body go by as she went up.

"I can assure you, you will receive no maidens kiss." Sephiroth smiled looking into her large frogeyes. "I suppose you're very confused, and as you should be, it's one of the effects of the spell. It's called Pale Horse. It confuses you, poisons you, and turns you into a frog." Sephiroth carried the frog Samus to the side of the arena. "I'm sure when you return you'll be good as new, until then however," Sephiroth stood at the edge of the arena. "You'll have to settle for the flies." Sephiroth tossed Samus up into the air a short distance, and smacked her with Masamune like a baseball bat sending her flying into the empty space, causing an explosion of green light.

"Congratulations Sephiroth!" The voice said with glee. "You've made it far enough to face me."

"I feel so very lucky."

The voice chuckled.

"Shall we get on with it, I want to get that Triforce back."

"You are in such a rush to face me?"

"I feel no need for worry."

The voice's laughter boomed through the space. A white-gloved hand appeared through the space. As it hovered over the arena it reared back and shot a massive force of power at the arena that sent Sephiroth's coattail and hair flying back. Sephiroth however stood still.

"You are still unafraid?" The hand asked.

Sephiroth smiled. "I don't scare easily."

The hand chuckled. "After this day, you will tremble."

"Tremble? At the thought of a giant glove?"

"I am no glove!" The hand roared. "I am the all powerful Master Hand!"

"Heh," Sephiroth chuckled. "You may have power over those who dwell in this world, but you have no power over me."

Master Hand clenched into a fist and released. "Ready? Go!"

Sephiroth leapt across the arena and swiped up at Master Hand. Master Hand was knocked up into the air a short distance and then came crashing down on Sephiroth. Sephiroth went flying across the arena but stopped about halfway through. Sephiroth leapt across at Master Hand and began to slash at him repeatedly in the air. Master Hand jerked back at each attack but would not budge anyway near the end of the arena. When Sephiroth landed back on the ground Master Hand swooped down at snatched him up. Master Hand began to crush Sephiroth in him grasp. A crunching sound was all that was heard from inside the hand. Master Hand then pulled back and tossed Sephiroth away across the arena. Sephiroth was physically undamaged from the crushing, but much of his health was spent. Sephiroth leapt again at Master Hand and stood beneath him, he then swiped his sword rapidly up at the palm of Master Hand.

"You don't learn do you?" Master Hand boomed.

The hand raised high above Sephiroth and formed a fist, lightning cracked all around it, puffs of smoke shot from the back end. Sephiroth realized what the Master Hand meant to do and jumped backward moments before the fist crashed down onto the arena Sephiroth rolled along the ground and stood back up as Master Hand picked itself up from the arena and waved it's hand back and forth in pain.

Within that same instant, Master Hand pulled back and swung across the arena smacking Sephiroth and sending him flying. Sephiroth grasped onto the edge of the arena and pulled himself back up.

"You disappoint me Sephiroth." The Hand said cracking its knuckles.

Sephiroth smiled. "I did not mean to disappoint you."

"Come at me with everything you have."

"As you wish."

Sephiroth dashed across the arena at Master Hand and jumped to slash at him again, when the Hand pulled back and hovered just outside the bounds of the arena. Master Hand held out his middle and pointer fingers, pulled his ring and pinky fingers back, and extended his thumb. He was now in the form of a gun. Master Hand began to shake and glow, and at that moment, Sephiroth realized what was going to happen. Master Hand was forced back by the recoil of the golden bullets he fired, six in total, two at a time. Sephiroth jumped to the side to dodge the first two, jumped on top of the second two, then two the last two, and then landed on top of Master Hand. Sephiroth drove the entire Masamune into Master Hand. Master Hand screeched and waved back and forth. Sephiroth did his best to hang onto the hilt of his sword, but was knocked off of the Master Hand, along with his sword. Master Hand shook in air to try and comfort the pain.

Master Hand pointed at Sephiroth as he stood.

"You shall pay for this!" He shouted. He then pulled back and thrust his pointer finger at Sephiroth, which pushed him back a good distance.

Sephiroth stood straight, and held his sword parallel to the ground next to his head. Master Hand flexed, and began to fire beams of light from each of his five fingers. Sephiroth ran through the beams dodging each one. Once he reached the underside of Master Hand, he put his sword on his belt and thrust out his arms to each side of him. Green light surrounded him, and each natural force of the Earth struck down on Master Hand. Lightning, fire, ice, water, wind, the very arena itself pulled apart and struck Master Hand. Master Hand screamed as the magic tore through him, dealing immense amounts of damage. When the convulsion of nature ended, Master Hand lay limp in the air. Sephiroth walked out from under the creature and looked up at the giant hand.

"What are you waiting for?" Master Hand asked panting. "Finish it!"

Sephiroth smiled. "With pleasure." Sephiroth leapt through the air and slashed through the entire body of Master Hand. Master Hand began to writhe and lift into the air. Explosions ran through the arena, the platform itself began to tilt in the destruction of its world.

Sephiroth looked up at Master Hand, who continued to float up into the air exploding, down at the arena, which tilted and exploded. He then calmly slashed his sword through the air twice, placed his sword on his belt, and looked up into the sky.

The world flashed white, and Sephiroth found himself in darkness.

"Congratulations!" Master Hand's voice echoed through the emptiness.

"Where am I?" Sephiroth asked looking through the darkness.

"You are in my trophy room."

A flash, and Sephiroth was surrounded by hundreds of figurines of various items. Weapons, worlds, monsters, heroes, there was a trophy for them all. Six trophies came before Sephiroth of the rest of the team. They all stood in a battle pose of some kind. Light flashed around them and they became real again.

"You're kidding." Sonic said in disbelief. "Sephiroth was the winner?"

Cloud and Sephiroth stared at each other.

"This changes nothing between us." Cloud said putting his Buster Sword on his shoulder.

Samus turned to the trophies. "Where is the statue of Link?"

The voice was silent.

"Master Hand!"

"I'm trying to find it!" Master Hand shouted. "Do you know how many of these things I have? To find one out of all of them! Are you sure you need Link, can't I interest you in a nice Captain Falcon or maybe a Fox McCloud?"

"Link." Samus said staring at the trophies.

A statue in the form of Link fell from the sky. "Here, now be gone!"

"Wait!" Cloud shouted walking up to the trophy. He grabbed Link's hand and pulled the sword loose. He inspected the Master Sword along with his. He thrust the trophy version into the ground. "Keep the false Master Sword."

The Master Sword trophy lifted into the air and flew into the rabble of trophies. Light surrounded the team as they appeared back at the purple platform, with the Epoch waiting for them.

"Come on," Snake moved to the time machine. "Let's get Link back."

The team carried the statue of Link to the Epoch, and shot to the End of Time.


	33. Lost Levels: Chapter 18

Chapter eighteen: The way of the hero

The team arrived in The End of Time carrying the statue of Link with them.

"Good, you managed to find a doll of your friend!" The old man said excitedly.

Snake stood the trophy up in a corner of the dock area.

"Now what do we need to do?" Asked Sonic leaning against the railing on the edge of the platform.

The old man was silent for a moment.

The team waited expectantly for their next order, while Sephiroth walked over to the other edge of the platform with total disregard for bringing Link back.

The old man was still silent, and the team leaned in closer. The old man's head bobbed up and down a couple of times, and the distinct sound of snoring ripped through the area.

"Wake up!" Sonic shouted.

The old man raised his head up quickly. "Dear me I'm sorry."

"What do we do with the statue of Link?" Zero asked.

"Ah yes," The old man nodded his head. "You must take the doll of the one you want to revive to Death's Peak, there everything will be revealed."

The team all took a step back and sat down.

There was a brief moment of silence.

Finally, Sonic asked what was on all of their minds.

"Where's Death's Peak?"

"It's in this world, about the year 20XX." The old man said with a smile.

"What do you mean this world?" Cloud asked standing.

The old man pointed at the Epoch. "You just have to get in the machine there, set the time, but set no destination. You'll be sent to this exact spot at that time, no change in position. And it so happens our current position is right near Death's Peak."

"Well, that's convenient." Sonic said walking to the ship.

"One more thing," The old man said quickly. "You can only take three people with you to reawaken your fallen friend."

"What?" Snake asked. "Why three?"

The old man shrugged. "These are the rules."

The team looked around.

Samus pulled her hand to her chest. "I'm the one out of us who knows Link the best, I'll go."

Cloud stepped forward. "I should have been able to stop Link's death, I'll also go."

"So will I." Everyone's head turned as Sephiroth walked down the steps into the center of the platform. "As the slayer of the 'Hero of Time', I shall accompany you."

Cloud took a step forward and raised his fist. "You think being there when he comes back will buy your forgiveness?"

"I never asked for forgiveness." Sephiroth said simply.

Cloud pulled his fist and step back. "Then why do you want to come?"

Sephiroth turned and looked into the empty vastness of the End of Time. "To make things right with him."

Snake raised his head and pulled a cigarette from his mouth.

"I was there when he died…it was because of me he died. Now, I've fought your tournament," Sephiroth turned to the team. "And done my part to make sure I'm a part of that he lives again. And I will be there when he comes back."

"I thought you didn't want forgiveness." Samus said.

"True," Sephiroth looked through Samus's visor. "But I believe the road to the Promised Land is one of many paths. Atonement shall be my path."

The team fell silent.

Cloud turned around and walked toward the Epoch. "Come on, let's go."

Samus and Sephiroth followed behind Cloud, got in the Epoch and shot away.

Snake, Sonic, and Zero all stood waiting.

The old man looked around them. "Bored?"

The three looked at him.

Sonic put his hands behind his head. "I've had more interesting moments in my life."

The old man smiled. "You see that door behind me?" The old man motioned his head to an iron gate that stood behind him, and seemed to lead to nowhere.

"What's behind it?" Zero asked.

"An old creature named Spekkio lives there, he's a master of magic. Perhaps he could teach you some things." The old man looked around them, and slowly drifted back to sleep.

The three decided they'd best check it out.

When they opened the gate they entered a small square room, the floors and rails were the same as they were at the End of Time, but there was no empty vortex, just darkness. That, and there was a small white hairy monkey in the middle of it. It was mainly of a ball like shape with arms and legs.

"Oh, it has been a long while." The creature began to dance.

The three stared at the small creature.

"Are you Spekkio?" Zero asked.

The creature stopped dancing and bowed. "I am Spekkio, master of magic."

Snake pointed his thumb to the gate. "The old man said we should talk to you about teaching us magic."

"Ah yes," Spekkio began to dance again. "I will teach you much." Spekkio looked at Zero first. "You, you require no magic."

Zero raised his head in surprise.

"Yes, you're beam weapons more than suffice." Spekkio then looked at Snake. "Ah, you are a man of great firepower. It is in fire that I see your power lay." Spekkio raised his hands into the air and a circle of fire surrounded Snake. "Now you know the magic of fire!"

Snake looked down into his hands, fire began to form in them. Snake thrust his left hand out to the side and a ball of fire flew from it exploding on the fence.

"Excellent, excellent!" Spekkio then turned to Sonic. "One who is fast, fast like light. Lightning is from where you shall strike." Spekkio raised his hands to the air and a circle of light surrounded Sonic that rose up into the air.

"You now have you magic!" Spekkio danced once more. "Would you like to try it out in a fight against me?"

Snake and Sonic looked at each other.

Sonic smiled and looked at Spekkio. "Alright." Light surrounded Sonic as he thrust out his hand and a bolt of lightning flowed from him to Spekkio. Spekkio jittered a bit and then began to dance again.

"Good, good! Now let us see what the man of fire can do!" Spekkio turned to Snake.

Snake pulled his hands back and then trust them out. A circle of fire surrounded him, and an inferno raged from beneath Spekkio consuming him. But when the flames died, he was not damaged.

"Wahoo, this is great! You have learned what you need of your magic, see if you can't bring me some more fighters!" Spekkio did one final dance, and the three of them were back out on the main platform.

The Epoch ripped through it's portal in time and arrived in a bleak, misty, future world.

"This must be the place." Samus said looking down onto the world. "Reminds me of Megaman's world two hundred years from now."

"Look." Cloud pointed out of a window to a large mountain. "That must be it."

Samus pulled the Epoch around to the mountain and landed about halfway up it. The team then began to walk up the mountain, occasionally being pushed back by the heavy winds.

Then, while about two thirds the way up, the three ran into something completely different.

It was somewhat like a large porcupine. It was the size of a small hill, large spines went pointed back it's entire length, and a mouth sat at the front of the creature that opened from time to time. The creature seemed not to notice them.

"What is it?" Samus asked trying to scan it through her visor for more information.

Sephiroth began to walk around it. "Let's get to the top of this mountain." As Sephiroth passed it, the creature began to stir.

A low gargling sound was heard.

The three looked up at each other, they all remembered that sound.

The creature's mouth opened, and it's spines moved to the sky. Beams of light shot from the creatures back.

"This won't be good." Cloud said following the beams path into the sky.

Thousands of shots fell from the sky on all three of them, doing a substantial amount of damage.

Samus, Cloud, and Sephiroth all fell to the ground. From her spot on the ground Samus began to fire blasts of energy at the creature. Every shot bounced off of its shell.

Cloud stood up and smashed his Buster Sword into the creature with no effect.

Sephiroth walked to the front of large porcupine like monster. "Do I have to think of everything?" Sephiroth placed the tip of the Masamune on the monsters neck, he thrust it down, and spun it cutting the creatures head clear off."

It writhed for a moment in pain and then lay dormant.

"Was that…" Samus said picking herself up. "Was that Lavos?"

"No, Meteor is much larger. And Lavos collided into Hyrule." Sephiroth placed Masamune on his belt and continued up Death's Peak. Wild winds met them as they climbed. Sometimes the only shelter they had against the wind was to hide behind trees and wait for it to die down before continuing. The three of them met a couple more of the monsters on their way up, but were able to defeat them with ease knowing their weakness. Finally, they arrived, at the peak.

The top of Death's Peak wasn't much of a site. A small formation of land extended from the mountain, a lone bare tree grew, and you could see into the ocean.

"Here we are." Samus said looking into the view.

Cloud reached into his satchel and pulled out the Chrono Trigger. "Now what do we do?"

Sephiroth stood the trophy of Link on the ground in front of them.

The three waited for what was supposed to happen to happen.

Suddenly, it happened.

The golden egg levitated from Cloud's hand. Light shone from it, and it shattered.

The three of them looked around as they stood in the hanger like area where Sephiroth had killed Link. Cloud sat on the ground, trying to bring himself up with the Buster Sword as Samus stood over him helping Cloud to his feet. Ganondorf stood in fake bewilderment. And Sephiroth stood in the air, in the middle of his turn that cut Link in half.

The three fell silent.

"Let's do it." Samus said walking over to Link. Samus pulled Link out from his place in time, and Sephiroth positioned the trophy into the same stance. Cloud pulled the Master Sword from Link's hand, and placed it into the hand of the trophy. The three looked about them, and agreed that it was right.

Light flashed, and they all stood back on Death's Peak.

All four of them.

Link looked around at his surroundings, he looked down at himself, and then at the three of them. He jumped back when he saw Sephiroth.

"Link!" Samus said walking up to him.

Link kept eyeing Sephiroth.

Samus looked back at Sephiroth. "Don' worry Link, he's with us now."

Link quickly looked at Samus in shock.

"Yeah, a lot has happened." Samus reached out to touch Link. Link recoiled back.

Cloud stepped forward. "Maybe he would feel better, if he were to grasp his sword." Cloud extended the hilt of the Master Sword to Link. Link looked down at it bewildered. He slowly extended his arm, and grasped it. Link gasped and closed his eyes for a moment. The Triforce of Courage appeared and shone bright on Link's right hand.

"Are you alright?" Samus asked after a moment.

Link slowly opened his eyes. He spun the Master Sword in the air a couple of times and placed it in its sheath. "Yes."

Cloud smiled. "Let's go back to the End of Time. We can explain everything there."

Samus created a teleport that sent them to the Epoch, and then blasted forward to the End of Time.


	34. Lost Levels: Chapter 19

Chapter nineteen: Of Snakes and men.

The Epoch arrived at the End of Time and the whole of them stepped out.

Everyone was thrilled to see Link, except for Zero who didn't know who he was.

Sonic dashed in front of Link first and rapidly shook his hand. Snake patted him on the back with a smile on his face and Zero slowly walked up and stood before him.

Zero looked directly at Link and searched his head. "Did…did I fight you also?"

Link slowly shook his head. "Yes."

Zero put his hand on his head. "I'm sorry, but…I don't remember. Anything I did to you, it wasn't me."

Link put his hand on Zero's shoulder and smiled. Zero smiled back.

"So, what's the next move?" Sonic said stretching his legs.

"Before we do anything," Samus said. "We should meet up with Otacon and Aya at Dr. Lights."

Zero looked over at Samus. "Dr. Light, the real Dr. Light?"

Samus looked side to side. "Yeah, what else?"

"I've met Dr. Light, but all I ever saw of him were holograms in capsules that contained armor for X."

"Well then, it should be a treat to see him for real!" Sonic smiled.

Zero nervously smiled.

"We'll be right back." Cloud said to the old man before leaving.

Sephiroth stayed on the platform. "Link stays here."

The team whirled around.

"What?" Samus asked.

"I will train Link to properly use a sword." Sephiroth walked over to Link. "When I fought him before, I was severely disappointed. It was as if he got his training cutting weeds in a garden."

Link stepped toward Sephiroth with a scowl.

"Why should we trust you?" Cloud asked.

"Do you think I would have gone through all the trouble to bring him back just so I could kill him again?"

Cloud scowled and stepped back.

"Link will play a pivotal part in the end of this. What good will he be if he can't even properly wield the Sword of Evil's Bane?" Sephiroth asked.

The team was silent for a moment.

"Link, do you think you need training?" Samus asked him.

Link pulled out the Master Sword and looked at it. "Yes."

Sephiroth smiled. "Very well then, you go meet Ms. Brea and I will train Link."

Sonic looked up at Sephiroth. "How did you know her last name?"

"I worked along side Eve remember?"

"Ah yeah." Sonic nodded his head.

Sephiroth walked up to the door to Spekkio's training room. "We'll use this room here to train." Sephiroth opened the door and saw a large armored knight wielding a mace.

"Ah, this one will be strong!" Spekkio did a small dance.

"We'll need to use this room." Sephiroth looked directly into Spekkio's helmet.

Spekkio stopped dancing, and seemed almost terrified by what he saw in Sephiroth's eyes. Spekkio reverted back to his monkey form and span out of the room.

"Shall we?" Sephiroth walked into the room and Link followed. The door shut behind him.

"Well, let's go." Sonic turned and walked toward the Epoch.

The team gathered and blasted off to Dr. Lights in 20XX.

The team arrived right outside Dr. Lights and all climbed out. Zero was the last one out and approached the laboratory slowly. Maybe, he would have his answers.

Sonic burst into the house. "Hey Otacon, Aya!"

The found the house empty.

"Where is everyone?" Zero asked looking around.

Samus checked more rooms and Light's laboratory.

Sonic checked the room where all of those robot animals were held.

Snake went out the back door to check there. He called everyone back there instantly.

Protoman was lying on the ground. His shield was broken, his scarf torn, visor cracked, and other such points of a beating he had received were visible.

Samus jumped down to Protomans side. "What happened, where's Dr. Light?"

Protoman staggered for a moment. "It…it took them…"

Snake kneeled down to be at eye level with Protoman. "What took them? What happened to Otacon?"

Protoman looked around, his eyes fell on Zero.

"You…you took them to him." Protoman brought his buster up and aimed at Zero. Zero was surprised. "You're going to kill them…you monster."

Sonic looked over at Zero and back at Protoman. "Zero? He took Dr. Light?"

Protoman was silent, his buster fell to his side, and he fell unconscious.

Samus took Protoman inside and laid him down on a sofa.

Zero looked down at him. "What did he mean by, I took them?"

The team all looked at each other.

"Zero," Cloud began. "It's time you learned the truth."

Zero's eyes widened and his mouth dropped.

"You were created in this year, 20XX, by a scientist called Dr. Wily." Samus explained.

Zero's eyes shifted. "Dr. Wily…that name…means nothing to me." Zero looked up at the team.

Snake continued. "Dr. Wily is evil. You were created to be his ultimate weapon of destruction to help him take over this planet."

Zero looked at Snake, and then his head bowed down.

Sonic ran to the middle of the room. "Hey, this is great and all but aren't we forgetting something? Where are Dr. Light and the others?"

"It's obvious isn't it?" Zero slowly stood up. "My father took them."

Sonic ran over to Zero. "Now, we don't know that."

"I'm going to him, whether Dr. Light is there or not." Zero turned to the door.

"Wait," Samus aimed her gun. "I've still got quadrants for it from the last time we went there." Samus fired a teleport, and the team appeared outside Wily's base. There wasn't a horde of robots like there was the last time they were there.

Cloud walked up to the control panel next to the door. "Anyone remember the code Megaman used?"

Samus looked around. "Where's Snake?"

The team turned and looked around for Snake.

The large doors to the base opened by themselves.

"That's usually not a good sign." Sonic said hesitantly.

Snake peeked his head through the doors and motioned them all to come inside.

The team walked inside and took careful notice of the guard wearing jungle camouflage knocked out by the wall.

Cloud looked around the familiar area, where Megaman defeated Dr. Wily's six robot masters with ease. "How did you get in?"

Snake pointed behind him to an air duct on the wall. "After I got in I stole his card key," Snake then pointed to the guard. "And let you guys in."

"Now what do we do?" Zero asked looking about the base.

Snake put his hand up to his ear and fell silent.

Sonic walked around a bit. "Hey…I thought place got destroyed by Zero."

Zero turned around quickly.

"Err…uh…" World fumbled around in Sonics mouth. "When you were first awakened you were, uncontrollable, you ended up destroying this base.

Zero looked at Sonic for a little while longer then turned and walked some more. Sonic nervously smiled and walked a different direction.

Snake brought his hand from his ear. "Otacon says that he's being held in the second basement detention level."

"Will that same key get us there?" Cloud asked.

Snake looked the key over. "I'm not sure, this key is different from normal card keys I'm used to."

"Ugh…" Said the guard who was regaining consciousness.

Snake turned and shot him with a tranquilizer dart. The guard was silent again.

"Let's see how far we can get." Snake put the key in his belt and began to walk towards an elevator.

"Snake look out!" Samus shouted.

Snake turned around right as the guard shot.

Samus dove into the path of the bullet, the shot ricocheted off of her armor and hit a wall.

Snake pulled out his gun, with a silencer on it, and fired three times into the guard. Snake put his gun back in its holster and suggested that they get a move on.

The sound of shuffling came from where the guard was lying.

The team turned around again to see the guard slowly getting to his feet.

"The guy doesn't learn, hit him a few more times Snake!" Sonic suggested.

Snake pulled up his gun.

"Wait." Zero put his hand out. "That won't work."

The team turned and looked at him.

"It's a robot." Zero explained.

"How can you tell?" Cloud asked looking at it.

"I can…feel them." Zero looked over at Cloud.

"What do you mean?" Sonic asked.

Zero put his hand to his head. "It's just, something I can do. X could feel them also. Especially, Sigma."

"Sigma? You mean that thing you fought…will fight….are fighting…that enemy of yours?" Sonic said scratching his head.

Zero nodded. "This robot, feels like Sigma."

The guard busted to its knees and jumped at Snake causing Snake to drop his gun trying to push the robot off of him.

Zero jumped to the side of Snake, grabbed the robot by the head, flung it off Snake, and cut it in half while it was in the air. "It feels like Sigma, I destroy it." Zero's head picked up and looked behind the team.

The team slowly turned around.

An army of robot guards filled the room.

The team held up their respective weapons.

"Everyone ready?" Cloud asked spinning his sword around a couple of times.

The team dashed at the army.

"Stop." Said a voice. Both sides came to a screeching halt.

Snake looked up. "Liquid?"

A man walked forward wearing a brown trench coat and brown gloves. He wore a pair of dark pants and boots. Strangely, he wore no shirt. He had about shoulder length blonde hair, but aside from this, he looked exactly identical to Solid Snake in every way.

"Rejoice brother," Liquid said walking through the guards. "I have returned, better than ever."

Snake kept his gun up and walked forward. "How, you were in Ocelots body."

Liquid Snake sighed. "Yes, poor Ocelot. I'm not really sure what happened to that body. Not that it matters."

"How did this happen?" Snake said through the sight of his gun.

Liquid smiled. "The good doctor made me a new body."

Zero raised his Z-Saber. "Dr. Wily?"

"Indeed. He truly is a genius. This is far superior to anything I've ever seen that 'Eggman' pull off." Liquid marveled at his new body.

"It's a robot body." Snake concluded.

Liquid scoffed. "I'm sorry Snake, but you're wrong."

Snake lifted his head a small amount.

"Wily has been reaching beyond sheer robotics and cybernetics. He's been working on a way to created whole living beings." Liquid extended his arms. "I was his first successful creation."

Snake lowered his gun. "Everyone, go on ahead."

The team lowered their weapons.

"Snake," Samus began.

"No Samus," Snake said moving his head slightly toward her. "This is my fight, you go on ahead. Save Otacon."

Samus nodded. "Let's go!"

Sonic was silent for a moment. "Just, just be careful." Sonic then disappeared from the room in a blur.

Liquid smiled. "Such dear friendships." Liquid looked back up at Snake. "Good to know you're not totally heartless." Liquid took off his coat and threw it to the side.

Snake tossed all of his weapons across the room along with his shirt as well. He then put his fists up ready to fight. "Have at you, Snake."

The rest of the team ran through the hallways trying to find the right elevator, and trying to be sneaky.

"We're getting nowhere." Sonic said. "You know how many bases I've gotten into by just running around?"

"Did those bases have extremely strong robot guards that have the same reading as an enemy who was seemingly un-killable?" Zero asked up against a wall.

Sonic thought for a moment. "They did have robots."

"Shh," Cloud turned around with his finger to his lips.

The sound of two guards walking through the hall across from them was heard.

"Zero," Cloud looked back. "Are these robots also?"

Zero was silent for a moment. "Yeah."

Cloud smiled. "Good."

Cloud jumped around the corner and smashed his Buster Sword through one of the robot guards leaving it in two mangled pieces on the ground. The other guard lifted his gun, Cloud smashed his hand off and held him up against the wall.

"Where's the elevator to the detention hall?" Cloud asked.

The robot was silent.

Cloud took his hand off of the robot, and held him up to the wall by his sword instead.

"Where is it?"

The robot blinked a couple of times, and pointed in the direction. He then dropped a keycard.

Cloud pulled his sword down releasing the guard. "Let's go." The team then walked off.

The guard looked around and began to run off, Samus shot him in the back.

The team arrived at the elevator.

"Otacon," Sonic smiled. "Here we come."

The team stepped into the elevator and Samus pressed the button for the second basement level.

The elevator began to move up.

"Shouldn't we be going down?" Sonic said looking at the team.

Samus pressed the button again.

The elevator continued to rise.

"He's taking us to him." Zero said.

Samus pressed the button a few more times.

"This could be bad." Cloud said looking at the elevator.

Zero began to glow.

"What?" He asked looking at himself.

The team looked at Zero as he vanished from the elevator.

The elevator stopped.

The doors opened to reveal Metal Gear Ray.

The team slowly stepped out.

"How hard could this thing be? We took down Metal Gear Chaos and that thing Chaos Emeralds in it!" Sonic nervously smiled.

Samus readied her gun. "Sonic's right. I've taken down worse."

Cloud spun his sword around and aimed it at Ray. "It's actually been a while since I fought anything. I'm looking forward to this."

Another Ray walked up next to the other.

"I didn't see that coming." Samus said.

Another appeared.

"I don't like where this is going." Cloud said gripping tightly onto the hilt of his sword.

The lights turned on the entire area. The room was filled with Metal Gear Rays.

"No, this isn't right." Sonic said slowly backing up. "No, nothing about this adds up at all."

The first Ray screeched.

Samus aimed her gun at it. "Let's get to work."

Cloud and Sonic both posed for fighting.

The team ran toward the army of Rays, they ran to an unbeatable fight.

The two Snakes clashed fists and sweat flew off of them as an explosion.

"You've gotten rusty Snake!" Liquid panted.

Snake smiled. "I've got a few tricks left."

Snake punched at Liquid, each punch being blocked, and then swiped at his feet. Liquid was knocked down and Snake pulled his foot back to kick him moments before he hit the ground. When he kicked, Liquid caught Snake's foot, landed on the ground in a stance that allowed him to get back up quickly, and tossed Snake across the room.

"Every time we fought, I could never be at my best." Liquid walked over to Snake who was lying on the ground. "I was always, in a helicopter or we didn't have enough room for a real fight." Liquid kneeled down to meet Snakes eyes. "But now, I can show you what I'm really capable of." Liquid grabbed Snakes shoulders and pulled him up and threw him into the air. Liquid then jumped up to meet him and kicked him into the wall behind him. Before Snake could hit the ground again, Liquid performed a roundhouse kick that sent Snake flying across the room.

Snake slowly got up, he ran his arm over his mouth, and spat out a wad of blood and saliva. He then put up his fists again.

"Honorable." Liquid clapped his hands.

Snake charged at Liquid. Liquid sighed.

Snake threw his fist out at Liquid, who turned to the side to dodge, grabbed his arm, struck his chest with his left arm, and threw him somersaulting towards the ground.

"Don't you see?" Liquid said spreading his arms out. "Wily not only gave me my body back, but he made me better than I ever was. The genes of Big Boss are really getting their monies worth." Liquid kicked Snake in the stomach while he was on the floor. "There's nothing you can do!"

Bang.

Liquid's eyes widened. He slowly toppled over, tripped over Snake and fell to the ground with a bullet hole in his back.

Snake slowly got up and looked around the room.

"Ocelot?"

He spun his revolver in his right hand.

Snake held his side. "You're back also? I thought you're personality was destroyed."

"Isn't it obvious?" Liquid said standing back up. "Wily remade him also." Liquid reached behind his back and pulled the bullet out. "You'll pay for that."

Revolver Ocelot continued to spin his gun. "Sorry Liquid, but you're wrong."

"Am I?" Liquid asked.

"It wasn't Wily who gave me this new body."

Snake grunted. "Then who?"

Ocelot continued to spin his gun for a moment not saying a word. "Eve."

"The woman?" Liquid asked.

"Eve is no mere woman." Liquid said tossing his gun into the air and catching it. "It's true my mind was destroyed, but not gone."

"What do you mean?" Liquid said putting back on his coat, it seemed his fight with Snake was going to be postponed.

"Mitochondria," Ocelot said with a smirk. "Our entire lives are recorded in them. Which is the same reason you were able to take over my body."

Liquid's eyes narrowed. "Because of my mitochondria?"

"Yes Liquid."

Liquid scoffed. "I think you're mistaken. It was the genes of Big Boss that allowed me to continue." Liquid held up his right arm. "My genes, Big Bosses genes, from this arm allowed me to continue living. They were able to take over your, weak genes."

"You're partly correct." Ocelot walked closer to Liquid. "Your genes are to blame for your being able to take over my body, but it was the mitochondria inside of your cells that gave you power. They're what give you power now."

Liquid was silent for a moment. He slowly began to laugh. "I don't have time for this nonsense. If you don't mind, I was in the middle of something."

Ocelot pulled his revolver out of its holster, spun it a few times, and aimed it at Liquid. "So was I."

Ocelot cocked the gun and stood aiming at Liquid. He then lowered his gun at Snake. "You were in the path of the bullet before." Ocelot fired.

Zero arrived in a room. The room looked like a complicated, yet unkempt, laboratory. Machines, papers, wires, tubes, and so forth scattered everywhere. Yet, in the middle of the room there stood a single capsule. Zero slowly approached the red capsule. Near the base of the glass was a skull. The glass itself was misty and was not able to be seen though. Zero walked up to it and ran his hand across the glass to move condensation.

He saw himself.

Zero bolted away from the capsule knocking down several machines while doing so.

"Beautiful isn't it?"

Zero turned around quickly and looked into the face of Dr. Wily for the first time in two hundred years.

Several things ran through Zero's head.

Samus went flying from the battle and struck a wall.

The fight with the Metal Gear Rays had been going as expected. They managed to take down thirteen of them, but now Samus was out of missiles, and Cloud has spent all of his magic.

"There's to many of them!" Sonic shouted running around and being the distraction for the attack. It stopped working a long time ago.

"We have to keep fighting!" Cloud jumped into the air and smashed his Buster Sword into the beak of a Ray. The giant robot was knocked to the ground but managed to pull itself up. It then opened its beak and fired a laser bolt at Cloud that knocked him back.

Samus picked herself back up and clutched her side. "My energy is almost spent. Any more of this and my armor will begin to break."

Sonic stopped running and rubbed his legs. "I've run to much, and the Chaos Emeralds aren't working for some reason!"

The three lined up and faced the seemingly endless amount of robots.

"A final charge?" Samus said.

Cloud smiled. "Let's go."

Sonic stretched his legs and prepared to run.

Light filled the room and the three stopped in their tracks.

It was a bright blue light that came from a blue orb between the three and the Rays. Lighting cracked off of it in various directions. A figure appeared in the orb in a kneeling position. He slowly raised his head, his arms hung low. His thick black hair ran wild in the storm of energy. Light surrounded his head, from the back to the front it became solid. Once it reached the front of his head, light shot from his forehead, and the sphere of energy disappeared.

The team was speechless.

"…Megaman." Samus slowly said.

Megaman stood still, almost as if he was asleep. The Metal Gear Rays began to approach, and his eyes snapped open.

Megaman threw his hand forward toward on of the rays. It began to crumble into a small sphere. By the end the large robot was about the size of a soccer ball. The ball of metal rolled toward Megaman, who then kicked it threw on of the other Rays. Light shot from that Ray and it then blew up.

The team was still speechless.

Megaman smiled. He held his hand out to another of the Rays, and the other hand to another. The two lifted off of the ground and flew across the room smacking into each other. They both exploded. Megaman ran into the middle of the Rays and threw his arms into the air. Large purple spheres of energy fell from nowhere and began to strike the robots. Many were either badly damaged or were destroyed.

One Ray opened its beak and fired a laser, another fired rockets from its knees, and several performed other such attacks. Megaman threw his hands to either sides of himself, large images of skulls appeared, and blocked every projectile. Megaman then aimed his hand at one Ray, a high-pitched sound imitated from his hand that caused the Ray, and several more around it to explode. Megaman span around and tossed several Japanese throwing stars at multiple Rays. They all struck their mark and blew them up. One of the rays fired a beam of energy that followed Megaman wherever he moved. Megaman began to run very fast then and go through various robots. The laser followed him and sliced through the legs of the robots. Megaman then grabbed one of the Rays by its severed foot, spun it around a few times and then began to smack it into other robots. Megaman then cast that one aside and began to run very fast again through the throng of robots. He swiped his hands across their legs while doing this cutting them off at around the ankle. Many robots fell over and crashed into other robots.

The team was still speechless.

Finally, after an amazing show of powers, all of the Metal Gear Rays were on the ground in various pieces.

Megaman wiped his hands and stared at the team.

The team stared back.

"Hey guys." He said.


	35. Lost Levels: Chapter 20

Chapter Twenty: About Time.

"It's impossible," Samus walked up to Megaman and put her hand on his shoulder.

Sonic poked him in the side. "We watched you die."

Megaman smiled. "Dr. Light has copies of me at all times. When I die, those blue spheres you saw rocket back to Dr. Lights. The data in the spheres is then reconfigured into me and I get sent back to the place where I died ready to fight once more."

"That seems a little to simple." Cloud said looking over the remains of the Metal Gears.

Megaman smiled. "Here's the story."

A beam of blue light shot down from the sky near the crater in Hyrule. Megaman walked around it confused. "What happened, I was only gone for a moment?" Megaman jumped into the middle of the crater. "These footprints are like Samus's." Megaman kneeled down to the ground. "And Sonic, and the rest of the team. They were here recently. Where did they go?" Megaman walked around in a circle a couple of times.

Then, Lavos screeched again.

Megaman quickly spun around to where he thought he heard the sound. Lightning cracked from the area near him, and the gate opened sucking Megaman in.

Megaman span through the vortex and arrived in the lush valley in 22XX where the crater struck. "Where am I now?"

"How are you here?"

Megaman span around and saw the One-Winged Sephiroth standing behind him. Megaman lifted his buster up and charged a shot.

"Do you really think that will work?" Sephiroth smiled.

Megaman was silent for a moment. "Where are we?"

"I don't know." Sephiroth looked around. "What I want to know is, why aren't you dead?"

Megaman explained the energy spheres.

Sephiroth smiled. "So if I killed you right now, you would just appear again?"

Megaman nodded. "That's right."

"Is there a limit to how often I can do this?"

"Dr. Light usually has just about five copies at a time, then he has to make more."

"It will do."

Sephiroth dashed at Megaman slashing his sword. Megaman fired his charged shot that dissipated instantly after he fired it. Sephiroth slashed Megaman across various angles all across his body. Megaman shone a bright light and exploded.

Sephiroth smiled. "That was fun. I can't wait to do it again." The sound of a gate opening and closing happened a short distance away. Sephiroth walked over to investigate.

"Only thing is," Cloud said sitting down. "How do we go back?"

"I would also like to know." Sephiroth said walking toward them

Cloud jumped to his feet and grabbed the Master Sword.

"I have more entertaining things to do then fight you." Sephiroth said raising his hands.

Megaman's data went whizzing through space and arrived at Dr. Light's laboratory. A capsule opened and Megaman walked out. He found a run down, and nearly destroyed area. "What happened, where is this?"

"It is where you think it is."

Megaman looked around. "Who's there?"

A spec of light floated down to Megaman. "Don't worry, I won't hurt you."

"What are you?" Megaman asked.

The spec shot light out in various directions. When the light faded, a holographic image of what looked like a man wearing blue robes and a blue helmet stood in the room. The helmet had a red triangle on the forehead. "You can call me, X. And you, must be Megaman."

"How do you know me?" Megaman asked.

"I have spent many years in this old laboratory reading the knowledge it has."

"Who are you, really?" Megaman asked.

X smiled. "I suppose I'll tell you the truth. I was a highly advanced robot in the year 21XX, my full name is Megaman X."

Megaman raised an eyebrow.

"I was created by Dr. Light."

"Why didn't he ever tell me anything about this?"

"Dr. Light felt that it was important to keep me a secret until the thirty year preparation period was over to make sure I would not harm humanity. If I were to fall into the wrong hands and be woken prematurely, there's no telling what could have happened."

"But you were woken at the right time?"

X was silent. "I was woken late."

Megaman was confused again.

"I was woken up some sixty years later by a scientist named Cain. The world was a wreck, overrun with mavericks."

"Mavericks? You mean like Zero?"

X raised his head. "Zero? You know Zero?"

"Yeah, he's the lunatic robot that Dr. Wily created to kill me!"

X fell silent once more. "You knew that Zero."

"That Zero?"

X walked over to a control panel. "I have to show you something." X pushed a few buttons on the panel and the screen lit up.

Dr. Cossack appeared. "This is Dr. Cossack, last report into the file of X."

Megaman looked over at X.

"I fear the worst has come," An explosion was heard in the background. "Dr. Wily has activated his robot, Zero. This robot is far to powerful, he was already destroyed both Protoman and Bass."

Megaman was shocked.

"He is making his way here to destroy Megaman, but he has gone missing. I fear what will happen when he finds Dr. Light." Another explosion and a scream were heard. Dr. Cossack clenched his eyes shut. "I have to waken X prematurely, he's the only thing that can stop Zero now."

Cossack walked over to another panel, but an explosion sent him flying.

Zero walked into the room with an evil grin. He cared nothing about Megaman X lying in the middle of the room.

"Please," Cossack muttered.

Zero fired a large blast off screen, and Cossack was heard no more. He then turned to the camera, smiled, and fired. The screen turned to fuzz.

X pushed a button that stopped the tape. "I do not know what happened next."

Megaman fell to his knees.

"What I do know is that you can stop it." X said putting his hand on his shoulder.

Megaman looked up. "How?"

"You must go back through time. Go to Hyrule and travel through the Gate there."

Megaman stood up. "Yes, I have to stop this."

"You'll meet two Zero's though."

Megaman slowly turned his head. "Two?"

"A good one and an evil one. After this, cataclysm, Zero went missing, a team of Maverick hunters in the year 21XX found him again before I was awoken. He was still uncontrollable. A powerful Maverick Hunter named Sigma was able to deliver a powerful blow to the crystal on his head, that incapacitated him. Zero was then re-awoken with no memory of Wily or his past and fought for the Maverick Hunters, I later joined him. We became best friends."

"What happened to Zero?"

"He went missing after a time, and I eliminated the rest of the Mavericks myself, despite the fact I don't like fighting. I created a human and robot utopia named Neo Arcadia, and then left my body to seal a powerful force in the core of the city."

Megaman slowly nodded his head.

"A few years later, a human scientist named Ciel created a copy of myself to fill my position as leader of Neo Arcadia. The copy took control, and then began to destroy innocent reploids calling them maverick. So, Ciel and her resistance found Zero and woke him. I've been aiding him from the shadows ever since."

"I see…" Megaman slowly said.

"This is all beside the point." X said. "You must return to your time."

Megaman held up his fist. "Alright X, I'll do my best!"

"One more thing." X walked over to a capsule. "Take this with you." X opened the capsule to reveal a red orb with a white Japanese fan shaped object in the center. "This is Dr. Lights last creation, with hope that you would return. It is called the Yashichi. It will give you more power then you ever dreamed of having, and, every ability from every robot Wily ever created."

Megaman slowly extended his arms to the sphere. He grabbed it out from X's hands. The sphere shone a bright light, shattered, and circled Megaman around a number of times until collapsing into him. Megaman's eyes were wide. "This is, more power then I've ever had."

"Take is Megaman, take it and defeat those who cause evil."

Megaman nodded and walked toward the teleporter.

X put his fist up. "Fight Megaman,"

Megaman smiled at X as he vanished.

"For everlasting peace." X lowered his arm and was silent. "I can only hope things turn out better in his time, then they did in ours."

"I'm sure they will." A holographic figure of Dr. Light walked up beside X and put his hand on his shoulder. "He's always done the right thing. He'll do so now."

"And that's what happened." Megaman looked about the area. "So, what's new with you?"

Chapter Twenty-One: Zero

Zero looked into Dr. Wily's face speechless. Zero grabbed his head, he clenched his eyes shut, he yelled in pain, and the memories came back. Zero fell to his knees he remembered everything that happened. He remembered his first awakening, fighting against the team, he remembered Freeman, and he remembered space, being brought back by Wily, being awakened again to destroy, Megaman. Megaman, the reason he was created, he finally had it.

"No, that's impossible." Zero gasped.

Wily smiled. "What is?" Wily bent down to be face to face with Zero. "Have you remembered?"

"I…" Zero clenched his head. "I killed, all those people…"

Wily smiled.

"I'm the spreader of the Maverick Virus, it's all my fault…"

"Well, not really. I'm the one to blame." Wily stood back up chuckling. "It's good to know I finally made something worth while, something that would stand the test of time."

Zero slowly stood up. "I don't believe it."

Wily turned around with a quizzical look.

"I refuse to believe you created me, I refuse to believe I was created to destroy. I'm better than that!"

"You think you're better!" Wily shouted. "You're not, you're a tool I created for destruction, a tool that will bring the world to its knees, a tool that will destroy all my enemies and take me to the seat of world domination!"

"No!" Zero ran across the room and punched Wily in the face. Wily span a few times in the air and crashed into a wall. "Oh god…" Zero ran across the room and picked up the lifeless body of Dr. Wily. "What have I done? I've killed him."

At this time, sparks flew from Wily's neck and his head detached bouncing on a large spring.

"A robot?" Zero asked throwing the machine aside.

"Good Zero," Wily said over a PA. "You're just like I'd expect you to be! Cold and ruthless."

Zero scowled into the air. "What are you?"

Wily laughed. "I'm just a man. Well no, I'm actually an evil genius who is fed up with being beaten by the same seventeen year old robot designed to look and talk like a ten year old!" The capsule-containing Zero opened. "I'm tired Zero, tired of jail, tired of having to run, tired of having to pick up the pieces of my robots to build them again just to have them be destroyed." Zero stepped out of the capsule. There was silence.

The Zero from the future looked into the air. "Did you really create me?"

Silence.

"Do you want me to fight myself?"

Silence.

Zero walked over to himself and looked at the past model. "Dr. Light I would believe but this?"


End file.
